Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas shook hands for the first time since 2010 on Monday, after standing side by side at the UN climate conference in Paris. 

The relationship between Israel and the PA has cooled significantly in the intervening five years, after the PA made a series of unilateral moves to the UN in 2014. Among them: applying for recognition as a "Palestinian state" and suing Israel for "war crimes" in the International Criminal Court (ICC). 

In response, Netanyahu cut off all formal diplomatic relations with Ramallah, although rumors resurface periodically of indirect talks on the lower political rungs. 

The handshake is also a stark contrast to Israel's formal position vis-a-vis the PA, as the territory - as well as Abbas himself - have been responsible for inciting most of the current terror wave, and encouraged violence and murder against Israeli Jews. 

Meretz Chairwoman, MK Zahava Gal-On, welcomed the move.

"Maybe instead of playing an infantile 'blame game' with the EU, the Prime Minister will use this opportunity - not only to shake hands, but to warm the political climate, under the auspices of European countries," Gal-On opined during a faction meeting Monday. "[Netanyahu should] call to Abbas to meet directly and jump-start the [peace] process, which is the solution against the terror wave."