United States Secretary of State John Kerry will meet Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan’s King Abdullah II on the sidelines of economic talks in Egypt on Friday, American officials said on Thursday night.
The talks are likely to focus on the economic crisis facing the PA and could be a four-way meeting which would also include Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a State Department official was quoted by AFP as having said.
“We continue to be concerned about the PA,” the official told reporters travelling with Kerry on his plane to the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
“It’s really part of the continuous, ongoing conversation we’re having with the critical stakeholders here,” the official said, asking not to be named.
Kerry is due to arrive Friday at the resort to attend an international economic conference, set to burnish Sisi’s global credentials.
Last month, Kerry voiced fears that the PA may be teetering on the brink of collapse because of a lack of funding, as Israel withholds taxes and donor aid stalls.
In January, Israel suspended $127 million in tax revenues which should have been transferred to the Palestinian Authority in retaliation for its move to join the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The PA has repeatedly asked for foreign donations, claiming it is on the verge of collapse due to a worsening financial crisis.
While blaming Israel for the PA’s financial woes, its chairman Abbas continues to spend six percent of the PA’s annual budget to pay $4.5 million a month to jailed terrorists and another $6.5 million to their families.
The State Department official did not indicate whether the meeting between Kerry and Abbas would deal with the peace process. Kerry was able to force Israel and the PA into a six-month negotiation period in 2014, but the PA torpedoed those talks by requesting to join 15 international agencies in breach of the conditions of the negotiations.
A recent report indicated that President Barack Obama intends to restart peace talks between Israel and the PA after Knesset elections, which are to be held March 17.
