BICOM

US President Donald Trump endorsed a two-state solution as the best way to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the side-lines of the UN General Assembly.

President Trump told reporters that he believes the two-state solution “works best. I don’t even have to speak to anybody, that’s my feeling”. He said reaching a two-state solution is “more difficult because it’s a real estate deal” but that ultimately it “works better because you have people governing themselves”. He added that he would still support Israel and the Palestinians should they opt for a one-state solution: “Bottom line: If the Israelis and Palestinians want one-state, that’s OK with me. If they want two states, that’s OK with me. I’m happy if they’re happy.”

Referring to the Trump administration’s long-awaited plan to resume Israeli-Palestinian talks, Trump said he is expecting to release details of the plan over the next two to four months.

Netanyahu praised the President for moving the US embassy to Jerusalem. He said that he addressed with Trump Israel’s crisis with Russia, after a Russian aircraft was shot down by Syrian missiles, and Israel’s right to defend itself in Syria. “I submitted specific requests in the context of the recent events in Syria, and I received everything I wanted. The President immediately gave explicit instructions to his advisors. These are very important things,” Netanyahu said.

He told reporters he was not surprised at Trump’s support for a two-state solution, saying: “I am willing for the Palestinians to have the authority to rule themselves without having the authority to threaten us. We will retain security control west of the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, that is not up for debate, and I am certain that any American plan will reflect that.”

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, said the Palestinians remain committed to their demand for a state based on the 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital. “This is the Arab and international attitude, and all final status issues need to be solved according to the international resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative,” he added.