The Palestinian flag flew in the Israeli Knesset on last Wednesday as several senior Palestinian Authority representatives came to visit more than 30 Israeli ministers and MKs. The visit was organized by the Knesset Lobby for the Promotion of a Solution to the Israeli-Arab Conflict, led by MK Hilik Bar (Labor), and by the OneVoice organization, a group that calls to end the occupation of the occupied Palestinian territories and to create a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Palestinian lawmaker Abdullah Abdullah told the MKs, “It’s moving to see our flags flying next to each other. That’s exactly how we need to be committed to negotiations… as two nations, equal to each other. Our goal is to live as neighbors in two states west of the Jordan River,” he continued. “Neither of us is going to disappear from here, not to the desert or to the sea, so we need to work hard to end the conflict and end the occupation.” Abdullah invited MK Bar and the other Israeli representatives to visit the PA parliament in Ramallah. The invitation came from PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, he told them. The Israeli representatives expressed interest in the offer, and MK Bar said he would work to make it happen.

The Israeli-Palestinian meeting in the Knesset (Photo: OneVoice)

Among the Israeli representatives present were deputy Minister Mickey Levy (Yesh Atid) and MKs Bar, Ronen Hoffman (Yesh Atid), Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor), Yitzhak Herzog (Labor), Meir Sheetrit (Hatnua), Zahava Galon (Meretz), Esawi Frij (Meretz), Elazar Stern (Hatnua), Michal Rozin (Meretz), Michal Biran (Labor), Avishai Braverman (Labor), Aliza Lavie (Yesh Atid), Afo Agbaria (Hadash), Mohammed Barakeh (Hadash), Merav Michaeli (Labor), Mickey Rosenthal (Labor), Erel Margalit (Labor), Hanna Sweid (Hadash) and Dov Khenin (Hadash). Approximately 35 MKs took part in total.

MK Bar argued that the 30-something participants “represent the overwhelming majority of Members of Knesset, who support the two- state solution.” “We will keep working to remove the obstacles put up by extremists on both sides, and we will act on behalf of anything that will help move forward the peace process, the two-state solution and the end of the conflict,” he added.