The meeting comes a day after an American was killed and 11 people were wounded in a stabbing attack by a Palestinian in Tel Aviv.
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Biden was in Israel at the time of the attack and said that his wife and grandchildren were having a meal on the beach near the place it occurred. “The kind of violence we saw yesterday, the failure to condemn it, the rhetoric that incites that violence, the retribution that it generates, has to stop”. It is part of a crackdown aimed at reducing Palestinian stabbing, shooting and vehicular attacks that have claimed the lives of 28 Israelis and two Americans since mid-September.
Islamist movement Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, often praises such attacks. Abbas also told Biden that “restoring hope and providing a political horizon was the key to security, peace and stability” and that Israel’s continued settlement construction and perpetuation of the occupation were the causes of the violence and bloodshed, Wafa reported. It appeared to be a veiled reference to the silence of President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, whom Biden was scheduled to meet hours later.
Police later shot and killed the assailant, according to the Associated Press. The gunman, riding a motorbike, was shot dead by police. The shootout took place on a main road alongside Jerusalem’s light rail and close to the New Gate of the Old City.
Israeli authorities first attributed his injury to the assailants, but said later they were investigating whether it was the result of police gunfire. Other police units on the scene shot at the suspects, killing them, Samri said.
Congressional aides say Biden is handling the negotations as relations between Netanyahu and Obama are poor.
Netanyahu echoed Biden’s sentiment. With the current grants expiring in 2018, the US and Israel are working to negotiate a new 10-year deal, known as the Memorandum of Understanding. And while Israel has many partners in this decisive battle, we have no better partner than the United States of America.
The United States now provides about $3 billion (US) a year in military grants to Israel.
Ahead of the Ramallah talks, senior Palestinian official Ahmed Majdalani said he was expecting “nothing” from Biden’s visit.
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Biden has held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
