Late Wednesday night after the end of the Shavuot holiday in Israel, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and IDF Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) Maj.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai traveled to Ramallah to meet with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and PA Minister for Civilian Affairs Hussein al-Sheikh.
The four men sat and discussed a series of confidence-building measures proposed by Israel’s security cabinet on the eve of U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Israel.
The proposals include expansion of the Allenby Bridge crossing times between Israel and Jordan to 24 hours a day; establishment of an industrial zone in Tarqumiya (west of Hebron) and one near Jenin; and raising the number of construction permits for Palestinian Authority citizens to build in Area C, the territory in Judea and Samaria the is supposed to be entirely under the control of the Israeli government, according to the Oslo Accords.
A statement from Kahlon’s Kulanu party said the meeting took place with the awareness and agreement of Prime Minister Netanyahu.