PARIS — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas shook hands at the United Nations climate change conference near Paris.
The two leaders met and spoke after the group photo of the some 150 world leaders in attendance at the conference, which is being held at Le Bourget Airport just outside the French capital. Abbas and Netanyahu had been standing in the same row, with only one person between them.
It was the first time the leaders have come face to face with each other since September 2010.
Netanyahu also met on the sidelines of the summit with President Barack Obama for about ten minutes. They were joined at the end by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, according to reports.
Netanyahu is scheduled to have official meetings with French President Francois Hollande and Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as the prime ministers of Poland, Japan, Australia, India and the Netherlands, according to the Jerusalem Post. He also held his first-ever meeting with new Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
He reportedly also spoke on the sidelines of the conference with Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Britain’s Prince Charles, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and, according to some reports, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.
