Trump plays up hopes of Middle East peace

Both sides ready to ‘ work toward the goal’

US President Donald Trump talked up the prospects of peace between Israelis and Palestinians on Tuesday, saying he believed both sides were committed to an historic deal, but he offered no concrete proposals on how to get there.

After an hour of talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem, in the Israeli- occupied West Bank, Trump condemned the bomb attack in Manchester that killed 22 people, calling the perpetrators “evil losers.” He then moved on to address efforts toward the Middle East peace.

“I am committed to trying to achieve a peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians and I intend to do everything I can to help them achieve that goal,” he said, with the 50th anniversary of Israel’s capture of territories that Pal- estinians seek for a state approaching next month.

“President Abbas assures me he is ready to work toward that goal in good faith, and Prime Minister Netanyahu has promised the same. I look forward to working with these leaders toward a lasting peace.”

While Trump has spoken frequently in the months since he took office about his desire to achieve what he has dubbed the “ultimate deal,” he has not fleshed out any strategy his administration might have toward achieving it.

He has appointed his son- inlaw, Jared Kushner, as a senior adviser on brokering an agreement, while Jason Greenblatt, formerly a lawyer in Trump’s real estate group, has taken the day- to- day role of liaising with officials and leaders in the region on the nitty- gritty contours of any solution.

The last talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, led by former US secretary of state John Kerry, broke down in April 2014 after around a year of largely fruitless discussion.

While both Netanyahu and Abbas have made positive noises about their readiness to negotiate, both also face domestic constraints on their freedom to manoeuvre and strike a deal.

Netanyahu must deal with opposition from rightist elements within his coalition who oppose any steps toward a twostate solution to the decadeslong conflict. Abbas’ Fatah party is at sharp odds with the Islamist group Hamas, which is in power in Gaza, leaving no unified Palestinian position on peace.