Netanyahu visits Trump for talks
WASHINGTON — As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the White House, the Trump administration has suggested that peace between the Israelis and Palestinians may not come in the form of a two-state solution — a position that could represent a dramatic shift from 20 years of U.S. policy.
Speaking to reporters ahead of President Donald Trump’s meeting today with Netanyahu, a senior White House official said Tuesday that Trump is eager to begin facilitating a peace deal between the two sides and hoping to bring them together soon.
But the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly on the meeting beforehand, said it will be up to the Israelis and Palestinians to determine what peace will entail — and that peace, not a two-state solution, is the goal.
Meanwhile, two senior Palestinian officials say CIA chief Mike Pompeo secretly held talks in the West Bank with Mahmoud Abbas, the first high-level meeting between the Palestinian leader and a Trump administration official. They said today the meeting took place Tuesday at Abbas’ headquarters in Ramallah. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters about the meeting, which had not been announced.
The White House had no comment today on the report.
For decades, the U.S. position has been that Israelis and Palestinians must work through direct negotiations to establish two states living side by side, at peace, with Palestinians to ultimately create an independent state. All serious peace negotiations in that time have assumed that the two-state solution was the basis for future peace.
State Department officials expressed surprise at the White House official’s comments and said Tuesday they were not aware of any policy shift on the desirability of a two-state solution. Three officials said the department was seeking clarification from the White House comments, which came as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was having dinner with Netanyahu. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
During his final White House news conference, Obama warned that the moment for a two-state solution “may be passing” and said the “status quo is unsustainable.”
It was not clear if the Trump White House had intended to declare a major shift in policy during the hastily arranged briefing Tuesday night.
Trump takes pride in his deal-making skills and said during his campaign that he’d love the challenge of negotiating a Mideast agreement. He has appointed his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to lead the effort.
The White House official said the visit was meant to mark a new, closer relationship between Israel and the United States, an alliance that came under strain during the Obama years.
Trump and Netanyahu are likely to discuss peace efforts as well as expanded Israeli settlements, Iran and Trump’s campaign pledge to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
