Sources: Shin Bet Head Met PA’s Abbas in Ramallah Last Week

The newly-appointed head of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, held a secret meeting with Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah last week, sources said Tuesday.

During the meeting, the two discussed a number of issues, including the deteriorating economic situation in the Palestinian Authority and its continued security cooperation with Israel.

Bar’s visit follows a series of meetings between the Palestinian leader and Israeli officials.

In August, Defense Minister Benny Gantz also met with Abbas in Ramallah, making it the highest-level meeting between the Palestinian president and an Israeli minister since 2010. Gantz told Abbas that Israel would take measures to strengthen the Palestinian economy, according to a statement from his office.

“They also discussed shaping the security and economic situations in the West Bank and in Gaza,” the statement said. “They agreed to continue communicating further on the issues that were raised during the meeting.”

In September, Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, Regional Cooperation Minister Iswai Frej and Meretz’s Knesset faction leader Michal Rozin met with Abbas.

Horowitz said his left-wing party Meretz was working to “keep the two-state solution alive” within the current government.

On Sunday, Bar met with Egyptian security officials in Cairo.