President Donald Trump vowed to present a “very fair” Middle East peace plan by the end of the year and endorsed a two-state solution, apparently confident that the Palestinians would return to talks despite his unwavering support for Israel.
Holding talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York, Trump said it was a “dream” of his to bring about a peaceful solution to a conflict that has eluded several of his predecessors.
While Trump said he expected Israel to make concessions in any final settlement of the decades-old conflict, the Palestinians said his administration’s policies in the Middle East were destroying hopes of peace.
Jared Kushner, who is Trump’s son-in-law as well as a senior adviser in the White House, has been working on a peace plan for more than a year, but there have been few clues to date on what he is expected to propose. “I would say over the next two to three to four months,” Trump said, referring to his prospective timetable for presenting a plan.
Trump, who met with Netanyahu on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, said explicitly for the first time that he backed a two-State solution, said, “That’s what I think works best, that’s my feeling.” “I really believe something will happen. It is a dream of mine to be able to get that done prior to the end of my first term,” added Trump, who was elected to serve four years through January 2021.
“Jared, who’s so involved, he loves Israel but he’s also going to be very fair with the Palestinians,” the US president later told a news conference. “I think probably two-state is more likely but if they do a single, if they do a double, I’m okay with it if they’re both happy. If they’re both happy, I’m okay with either. I think the two-state is more likely,” he said.