Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the new head of Israel's opposition Labor party Avi Gabbay on Wednesday to congratulate him on his victory in the party's leadership contest, a statement from the latter's office said.

According to the statement, cited in several Israeli media outlets, Gabbay told Abbas that he must meet face-to-face with Netanyahu soon. The pair last sat down together in 2010.

Gabbay told Abbas that "effective negotiations between the two sides begin with the creation of trust" and that "peace will not be made in international forums or in regional committees, it will begin ... with personal contacts between the two sides," Channel Two quoted the statement as saying.

Gabbay, who on Monday triumphed over ex-Defense Minister Amir Peretz in the Labor primaries, also intoned to the Palestinian leader that trust could be gained by the implementation of "small steps" by the two parties.

He added that one such step could be the elimination of incitement against Israel from Palestinian school textbooks.

During the primaries campaign, Gabbay spoke of dividing east Jerusalem in peace negotiations. But as a minister in a competing party in Netanyahu's coalition, he was part of a coalition government that expanded settlements was frequently hostile to the Palestinian Authority.

The wealthy former business executive's victory saw Labor's stocks jump sharply in snap polls published by several Israeli outlets on Tuesday, although an election is not due until 2019.