Abbas, Netanyahu shake hands at Peres funeral

Sep 30, 2016

"Good to see you. Long time," Abbas said, a video posted by Netanyahu's spokesman showed.

PIC: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas (C-L) shaking hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) during the funeral of former Israeli premier Shimon Peres in Jerusalem on September 30, 2016. AFP Photo / Israeli Prime Minister's spokesman / HO

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas shook hands and spoke briefly at Shimon Peres's funeral on Friday in a rare public encounter between the two men.

They shook hands as they met in the crowd before the funeral began, believed to be the first time since a handshake at a Paris climate meeting last November.

sraeli rime inister enjamin etanyahu stands before the coffin of former sraeli president himon eres during his funeral on eptember 30 2016 at erusalems ount erzl national cemetery hoto ool bir ultan

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands before the coffin of former Israeli president Shimon Peres during his funeral on September 30, 2016, at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl national cemetery. AFP Photo / Pool / Abir Sultan

"Good to see you. Long time," Abbas said in broken English, a video posted by Netanyahu's spokesman showed.

Netanyahu and his wife thanked him for coming.

The last substantial public meeting between Abbas and Netanyahu was in 2010, though there have been unconfirmed reports of secret meetings since then.

Peace efforts have been at a complete standstill since April 2014.

sraeli rime inister enjamin etanyahu speaks during the funeral of former sraeli president and rime inister himon eres at erusalems ount erzl national cemetery on eptember 30 2016 hoto icholas amm

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the funeral of former Israeli president and Prime Minister Shimon Peres at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl national cemetery on September 30, 2016. AFP Photo / Nicholas Kamm

Abbas was making a rare trip to Jerusalem from his base in the West Bank city of Ramallah, joining leaders from around the world for the funeral of the Israeli ex-president and Nobel Peace Prize winner.

On Wednesday, Abbas described Peres as a "brave" partner for peace.

Abbas negotiated with Peres and signed the Oslo peace accord of 1993, which earned Peres the Nobel prize alongside Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

alestinian president ahmud bbas sits alongside uropean ouncil resident onald usk and omanian resident laus ohannis at erusalems ount erzl national cemetery during the funeral of former sraeli president himon eres on eptember 30 2016 hoto ool bir ultan

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas (C) sits alongside European Council President Donald Tusk (L) and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl national cemetery during the funeral of former Israeli president Shimon Peres on September 30, 2016. AFP Photo / Pool / Abir Sultan

"Peres was a partner in making the brave peace with the martyr Yasser Arafat and prime minister Rabin, and made unremitting efforts to reach a lasting peace from the Oslo agreement until the final moments of his life," Abbas said earlier.

No Arab heads of state were believed to be at the funeral. Many in the Arab world accuse Peres of "war crimes" for his role in successive Middle East conflicts.

Egypt was represented by Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, while Jordan also sent a minister. They are the only two Arab countries to have signed peace treaties with Israel.