During a meeting with visiting Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu challenged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to pay him a visit.

“President Abbas said on Israeli television a few days ago that if I invite him, he’ll come,” Netanyahu told the Czech minister. “I’m inviting him. I’ve cleared my schedule for the week. Any day he can come, I’ll be here.”

“The first order of business will be ending the Palestinian campaign of incitement to murder Israelis,” Netanyahu added. “My door is always open for those who want peace with Israel.’’

Last week, Abbas said in a rare televised interview with Israel’s Channel 2’s journalist Ilana Dayan that he would be willing to meet Netanyahu “at any time” to negotiate a peace settlement, in a response to Netanyahu’s repeated calls for peace talks with Abbas without preconditions..

“I want to see peace in my lifetime,” he said.

“I still extend a hand to Mr. Netanyahu because I believe in peace. I believe that the people of Israel want peace and that the Palestinian people want peace,” he said. “Either we, the politicians, will do it, or we can leave it to the people. They’ll do it within a week.”

Israeli president Reuven Rivlin also said he is willing to meet Abbas.

He said he was somewhat heartened by Abbas’s interview to Channel 2 news magazine “Uvda.”

He added however that Abbas needs to back up his words by distancing himself from fundamentalists who would prefer to see a temporary agreement that allows for the future destruction of Israel, like Hamas.

“We need to find a way to build trust between us,” he says. “I am ready to meet with [Abbas] with whatever coordination with the Israeli government of course.”

At least 31 Israelis have been killed in a current wave of Palestinian terror attacks on Israelis, which have at times been perpetrated on a near-daily basis.

Israeli leaders across the political spectrum have long complained that incendiary rhetoric from Palestinian leaders, including Abbas helps stoke the violence.