Netanyahu
NetanyahuFlash 90

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu this evening responded to the joint Abbas-Olmert press conference in New York by saying: "Gantz has no government without Ahmad Tibi, and Ahmed Tibi will do whatever Abbas tells him as he now meets with Gantz's advisor and close friend - Ehud Olmert.

"This is a low point in the history of the State of Israel. Gantz succumbs to all the dictates of the Joint Arab List - he can't be the Israeli prime minister!"

Abbas met with Olmert just hours after his speech in the Security Council on President Trump's Mideast initiative, in which he presented the map published by U.S. President Donald Trump's plan and called it "Swiss cheese". At the end of his speech, he said: "I am striving for peace with every Israeli leader who comes. We will not resort to violence."

In an interview at the Ynet studio earlier this week, Olmert responded to criticism of his planned meeting with Abbas, saying: "He's the only partner we have for peace. There's no reason in the world not to meet him." In that interview, he called Netanyahu "a distressed crook, the head of a crime gang."

At Likud conferences this week, Netanyahu called on Gantz to "disengage from Olmert." According to the Likud Chairman, "Olmert offered Abbas the Western Wall, offered him control of the Temple Mount. He's now gone to Abbas to thwart the Plan of the Century and I say to Benny Gantz - is that your closest advisor?'

In the interview, Olmert said: "I am not a Gantz consultant."