Trump: I can live with 2 or 1-state solution 02:28
Story highlights
- Trump, Netanyahu discuss bringing Arab nations into talks on Palestinians
- Both the Bush and Obama administrations called for a two-state solution
Washington (CNN)President
Donald Trump rejected the long-established US framework for Middle East
peacemaking at a White House visit with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu Wednesday as he announced his desire to reach "the ultimate
deal."
In staking his claim to a
prize that has eluded many a leader before him, Trump previewed the
nascent outlines of an approach that -- if he sticks with it -- ditches
bipartisan orthodoxy, borrows some old ideas and, Middle East experts
say, will be no easier to pull off now than in the past.
As
Trump declared his deep support for the Jewish state, he abandoned the
bedrock principle that the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
will come via two states for two peoples. Instead, he referred to the
possibility of an Arab-backed peace process, an idea that's been
floating around since the beginning of this century without producing
results.
"The United States will
encourage a peace and really, a great peace deal," Trump declared at a
news conference alongside Netanyahu. "We'll be working on it very, very
diligently."
Asked whether he was
abandoning the idea of a two-state solution, Trump said, "I'm looking at
two-state and one-state, and I like the one that both parties like."
He continued, "If Israel and the Palestinians are happy, I'm happy with the one they like the best."
He
also said at one point, "It is the parties themselves that must
directly negotiate. Both sides will have to make compromises." Then
turning to Netanyahu, he added a question: "You know that, right?"
UN Sec Gen: 'No plan B'
What's the Israeli-Palestinian two-state solution? 00:55
UN
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, speaking in Cairo alongside the
Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, stressed that the Israelis and
Palestinians must not abandon a commitment to a two-state solution.
"There
is no Plan B to the situation between Palestinians and Israelis but a
two-state solution and that everything must be done to preserve that
possibility," he said in remarks to the press.
The
night before Netanyahu's arrival at the White House, senior
administration officials cast doubt on the two-state solution, which the
international community still holds as the basic foundation of any
agreement. The US explicitly called for that arrangement under
Republican President George W. Bush and Democratic President Barack
Obama.
The Trump official's
comments drew a response from PLO Executive Committee Member Hanan
Ashrawi, who said that if Trump was "trying to create alternative
realities, then he should spell out what the options are. A one-state
solution would require equal rights and citizenship for all, unless he
is advocating an apartheid state."
There
are growing questions about whether a two-state solution is even
possible, given Israel's continued settlement building, said Diana
Buttu, a former spokeswoman for the Palestinian Liberation Organization
who now teaches at Harvard University.
Since Trump's inauguration, Israel has announced 6,000 new settlement homes and legalized settler outposts in the West Bank.
"They've
done that for 20 years, say they want a two-state solution, build
settlements and destroy Palestinian homes," Buttu said. "That's not the
behavior of someone who wants peace."
As a result, young Palestinians are "increasingly talking very openly about a struggle for one person, one vote," Buttu said.
Many
Israelis, on the other hand, say that the Palestinians haven't warmly
embraced a two-state solution either, pointing to polls showing that the
idea has dropping support among the Palestinian public and arguing that
its leaders haven't been willing to participate in the direct talks
needed to reach an agreement.
Netanyahu,
who endorsed the idea of two states in 2009 under pressure from the
Obama administration, sidestepped questions about whether he still
supports the concept Wednesday, saying instead he wanted to avoid
"labels" and talk substance: the need for Palestinians to recognize
Israel as a Jewish state and the need for Israel to have overriding
security control. It's not clear how Netanyahu is going to persuade them
to come to the table.
He also
didn't give a direct response when asked whether he would comply with
Trump's request at the news conference that he "hold back" on settlement
expansion.
Pressed by reporters
later Wednesday, the Israeli Prime Minister replied, "I think we'll try
to find a common understanding that is consistent with pursuit of peace
and security."
It was an early indication that getting the parties to comply with US aspirations in the Middle East can be a challenge.
Natan
Sachs, a fellow at the Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings
Institution, said that for Netanyahu, the point isn't so much "to get to
the deal with Palestinians, but to change the parameters and include
the Arab states. That would be good for Israel if there is a deal with
Palestinians, and it would be good for Israel if there isn't a deal."
States
aligned with Israel in their dislike of Iran include Jordan, Egypt,
Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states. Israel has forged close but quiet
security ties with these Sunni-majority nations over that shared view of
Tehran. Now, Netanyahu is hoping to make those relationships more open
and win Arab recognition of Israel by drawing these countries into
negotiations on Mideast peace.
"I
believe the great opportunity for peace comes from a regional approach,"
Netanyahu said at the White House, "from involving our newfound Arab
partners in the pursuit of a broader peace and peace with the
Palestinians."
Netanyahu: No greater supporter than Trump 02:28
Trump
described the idea of Arab involvement as "actually a much bigger deal,
a much more important deal in a sense. It would take in many, many
countries and it would cover a very large territory."
Trump
has said his chief negotiator for Middle East peace will be his
son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who has already been meeting with influential
Arab leaders, such as Jordan's King Abdullah and UAE ambassador to the
US Yousef al-Otaiba.
"I think we
have some pretty good cooperation from people in the past who would
never, ever have even thought about doing this," Trump said, "so we'll
see how that works."
Sachs said that Trump seems to think the regional approach is new.
"It's
not," he said, pointing to a 2001 Saudi initiative that proposed Arab
recognition of Israel in exchange for peace with the Palestinians and
Syria and an independent Palestinian state whose capital was East
Jerusalem.
It was adopted by the Arab League in 2002 and re-endorsed in 2007 but has yet to lead to a resolution to the conflict.
While
Jordan and Egypt have formal peace deals with Israel, Gulf states don't
have formal diplomatic relations with Jerusalem and would have to sell a
deal to their citizens before publicly improving ties.
"They've
got to be able to sell their closeness to Israel to their own domestic
politics as, among many other good things, something that's helpful to
the Palestinians," said Hussein Ibish, a senior fellow at the Arab Gulf
States Institute. "The idea that Israel wouldn't have to do much on the
Palestinians and have major progress with the Gulf states, that's a
misread of the political dynamics."
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