Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will next week meet with US President Donald Trump in Washington.

The meeting scheduled to take place on 3 May is very important according to Palestinian official Ahmed Majdalani, who said, “We must agree on the fundamentals to revive the peace process and discuss bilateral relations.”

Majdalani added that an advance team, including chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, PA Intelligence chief Majid Faraj and Abbas’s economic adviser, Muhammad Mustafa, has already arrived in the American capitol to meet with officials in the Trump administration.

Trump invited Abbas to the White House last month during his first telephone conversation with the Palestinian leader, and since the call Abbas has met twice with Trump’s special representative for international negotiations, Jason Greenblatt.

Majdalani said that the Palestinian leadership is hopeful about the Trump administration’s plans for renewing the peace process. “I am optimistic,” Majdalani remarked.

Palestinian officials hope that Trump will offer his support for the two-state solution and pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to freeze settlement building throughout Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem. But in view of the recent terror attacks in Israel and the constant incitement to attack Israelis in the media controlled by the Palestinian Authority, that is unlikely to happen.

Abbas will also likely visit a number of Arab and European countries ahead of his visit to Washington.