PA officials confirmed reports in Israel that US President Donald Trump had lambasted PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas during their meeting in Bethlehem over the PA’s involvement in anti-Israel incitement. On Sunday, Channel 2 reported that the meeting between Trump and Abbas in Bethlehem last week had been anything but cordial. The report cited a US official present during the meeting who claimed that the president had expressed outrage with Abbas, yelling at him regarding Abbas’ claims that his Fatah faction was not involved in anti-Israel and anti-Semitic incitement. “You tricked me in Washington,” the president is said to have yelled at Abbas, referencing the PA leader’s March trip to the US capital . On Wednesday, the London-based Arab news outlet “ Al-Araby Al-Jadeed ” cited PA officials who confirmed the reports. According to them, Abbas had described his meeting with Trump in Bethlehem as “unpleasant,” and said that Trump had expressed anger towards him, blaming him for incitement against Israel. According to the report, Trump showed Abbas a number of video clips, including one in which Abbas was seen saying, “We incite, and the Israelis incite.” In response, Abbas had claimed that the videos had been cut, and were being taken out of context. The PA officials said that Abbas had claimed that Trump’s rage at him was the result Israeli “incitement” against him. “You have methods in the CIA, ask them to analyze the videos, and you’ll find that they were taken out of context or fabricated in order to incite against the Palestinians,” he reportedly told Trump. The PA sources described the meeting as having been tense, and said that Abbas had repeatedly exploded in annoyance when his senior advisers asked questions.
