Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz late Tuesday in a rare visit to discuss strengthening economic and security ties. The pair met at Gantz’s home in Israel, marking the second meeting between the pair since Abbas hosted Gantz in August in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, Israel’s public broadcaster Kan reported. Gantz told Abbas that he intended to “continue to promote actions to strengthen confidence in the economic and civilian fields, as agreed during their last meeting,” a statement from the Israeli Defense Ministry said. “The two men discussed security and civil matters,” the statement added, noting that the meeting lasted for roughly two and a half hours. Gantz confirmed the meeting in a statement on Twitter, saying that he and Abbas “discussed the implementation of economic and civilian measures.” They also “emphasized the importance of deepening security coordination and preventing terror and …