Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Update: Trump Accuses Abbas Of Lying — Report

U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly yelled at Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas during their meeting in Bethlehem last week, accusing Abbas of lying, Israeli television reported Sunday.

“You lied to me in Washington when you talked about commitment to peace, but the Israelis showed me you were personally responsible for incitement,” Trump reportedly told his Palestinian counterpart.

Abbas met with Trump in Washington May 5. They had their second meeting Tuesday.

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Palestinian sources said, however, the account was wrong and the meeting between the two leaders was calm, the Times of Israel reported.

A poll taken for the Jerusalem Post after Trump’s visit indicated 49 percent of Palestinians said they now support restarting peace talks with Israel, which broke down three years ago. The poll of 500 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza by the Arab World for Research and Development, a Ramallah research institute, said the poll indicated a slight increase in support compared to previous surveys. Forty-five percent of those surveyed, however, said they didn’t think Trump would be able to forge a deal.

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After Tuesday’s meeting, Trump delivered a speech in which he said terror must not be “rewarded,” seen as criticism of the Palestinian Authority’s practice of providing support to the families of terrorists who were killed or imprisoned.

The report comes amid controversy over a women’s center Palestinians dedicated to Dalal Mughrabi, who headed up a 1978 attack that left 35 Israeli civilians, including 12 children, dead and more than 70 wounded.

The women’s center in Burqa was built with money donated by Norway, and when the building was constructed, the Norwegian Foreign Ministry’s logo was affixed to it. After the dedication, however, Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende demanded the logo be removed and the money returned, Israel Today reported.

“The glorification of terrorist attacks is completely unacceptable, and I deplore this decision in the strongest possible terms. Norway will not allow itself to be associated with institutions that take the names of terrorists in this way. We will not accept the use of Norwegian aid funding for such purposes,” Brende said in a statement Friday.

Israel praised Norway for its move.

“Norway took the right step. A firm stance against the commemoration of terrorists is an integral part of the international effort to eradicate terrorism. We recommend that the international community thoroughly check where their money is invested in the Palestinian Authority and we expect all project partners to act as Norway did," the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement Saturday.

The United Nations on Sunday said it had withdrawn its support from the center, calling the dedication “offensive.”

“The glorification of terrorism, or the perpetrators of heinous terrorist acts, is unacceptable under any circumstances,” the statement said. “The U.N. has repeatedly called for an end to incitement to violence and hatred as they present one of the obstacles to peace.”

The U.N. also asked that its logo be removed from the center.

Local Palestinians, however, describe Mughrabi as a martyr. The Times of Israel said the Palestinian Authority has scheduled a number of events at the center, honoring Mughrabi and other terrorists.