Palestinian leader, Israeli PM hold first call in years

RAMALLAH: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday received a call from Israel’s caretaker Prime Minister, Yair Lapid, the first such conversation between Abbas and an Israeli premier in years. The call came amid a rare flurry of high-level Israeli-Palestinian contacts ahead of President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel and the occupied West Bank next week. A statement from Lapid’s office said he spoke with Abbas about “the continuation of cooperation and the need to ensure quiet and calm.”