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Palestinians ready to talk peace after US presidential election, says top Abbas adviser

Majdi Khaldi, senior diplomatic adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, says the Palestinians are ready for an international peace conference in early 2021, noting that a Biden administration would be "more committed to international law."

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Majdi Khaldi, senior diplomatic adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in his office in Ramallah on Oct. 6, 2020. — Thaer Ghanaem

A senior adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said that an international conference, in coordination with the Quartet — the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia — should take place in early 2021 regardless of who wins the US presidential elections on Nov. 3.

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Majdi Khaldi, the most senior diplomatic adviser to Abbas, reiterated the call made by the Palestinian president to the United Nations General Assembly Sept. 27, saying, “We are open to dealing with whoever is elected as president of the United States.”

Khaldi conceded that a Biden administration would not be “committed to the same issues as the Trump administration has been working on.”

However, Khaldi had a clear message to both leaders: “We have said to the UN General Assembly that we are ready to attend an international conference in coordination with the Quartet and we would agree to that as soon as the elections are over — regardless of the winner. We want to have this conference in early 2021 after the inauguration of the new [US] president."

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