Israeli new Labor Party leader Isaac Herzog, left, shakes hands with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during their meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed) (The Associated Press)
RAMALLAH, West Bank – Israel's new opposition leader says he told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that a clear majority in Israel supports a peace deal with the Palestinians and that his Labor Party will back any future agreement.
Isaac Herzog was elected Labor leader on Nov. 21, replacing a party chief who had made domestic issues such as economic inequality a chief concern. Herzog's meeting with Abbas on Sunday signaled a shift back to Labor's traditional priorities. In the 1990s, Labor led Israel into ultimately unsuccessful negotiations on the terms of a Palestinian state.
Talks resumed in July, but there's been no apparent progress. Tensions are high over Israel's continued settlement building on lands sought for a Palestinian state.
Herzog says Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should meet to advance negotiations.
Fox News' "Antisemitism Exposed" newsletter brings you stories on the rising anti-Jewish prejudice across the U.S. and the world.