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Trump vows to release Mideast peace plan within 4 months
Trump said he liked a two-state solution, adding, “That’s what I think works best.”
Speaking before a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, Trump was more declarative than he has previously been about both the timing and nature of the proposal his administration has been working on in secret for nearly 20 months.
Previously, Trump has said he was open to either a Palestinian state alongside Israel or a single Israeli state, and that the decision should be up to the parties. “I am looking at two-state, and one-state, and I like the one that both parties like,” he said in February 2017.
Asked to clarify his position at a news conference Wednesday evening, he said he would still be happy with any plan the Israelis and Palestinians agreed on, whether one state or two.
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“The bottom line, if the Israelis and the Palestinians want a one-state, that’s OK with me,” he said. “If they want two states, that’s OK with me.”
But, he added, “I think it’s going to be a two-state.”
His preference for two states, long the goal of Middle East peace negotiators, seemed to open some daylight between his administration and that of Netanyahu, a close ally who has for years avoided referring to a two-state solution in public.
But Netanyahu said he was not surprised by Trump’s remarks.
“Everyone defines the term ‘state’ differently,” Netanyahu told Israeli reporters after the meeting. He said that as long as he was prime minister, Israel would not relinquish security control of the occupied territories. He has spoken of granting the Palestinians, at most, what he calls a “state-minus,” with limited authorities.
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Naftali Bennett, the leader of the hawkish, pro-settlement Jewish Home party and a partner in Netanyahu’s coalition, described Trump as “a true friend of Israel.” But, he added, “It must be emphasized that as long as the Jewish Home Party is part of Israel’s government, there will not be a Palestinian state, which would be a disaster for Israel.”
The White House has kept timing of the plan — which is being drafted by Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, and Jason Greenblatt, the former chief lawyer of the Trump Organization — under tight wraps.
On Wednesday, Trump said he planned to release it “over the next two to three to four months.”
In March, administration officials said the plan was nearly finished and would be released soon.
Trump repeated his contention that his formal recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital would open the door to a deal, despite the angry reaction of the Palestinian leadership, which severed communication with the White House after he announced the decision to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv last year.
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“I took probably the biggest chip off the table,” Trump said. “Israel got the first chip and it’s a big one, there’s no question.”
He reiterated that Israel would have to make some kind of reciprocal gesture to the Palestinians, but he did not offer any details.
There was no immediate response to his remarks from Palestinian officials.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Mark Landler © 2018 The New York Times
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