• “I look forward to working with the President-elect and his administration to strengthen the Palestinian-American relations,” he said

RAMALLAH: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday congratulated US President-elect Joe Biden in a statement that indicated the Palestinian leadership would drop its three-year political boycott of the White House.

“I congratulate President-elect Joe Biden on his victory as President of the United States of America for the coming period, and I congratulate his elected Vice President Kamala Harris,” Abbas said in a statement issued from his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

It added: “I look forward to working with the President-elect and his administration to strengthen the Palestinian-American relations and to achieve freedom, independence, justice and dignity for our people, as well as to work for peace, stability and security for all in our region and the world.”

The Palestinians have been holding out for a change of US president for three years, hoping for a chance to hit the reset button on relations with Washington.

Abbas ended all political dealings with President Donald Trump’s administration after Trump’s December 2017 decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the US Embassy there.

Reuters