Arab News

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Assembly the same day.

The US leader has been seeking to restart peace talks between Israel and the Palestinia­ns, in search of what he has labelled the “ultimate deal.”

But Palestinia­n officials have grown increasing­ly frustrated at the failure of Trump’s team to commit to the twostate solution, the focus of internatio­nal diplomacy since at least the early 1990s.

Members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government openly oppose a two-state solution, while the premier himself has indicated in recent months that he plans no “uprooting” of settlement­s in the occupied West Bank.

“It would be utterly ridiculous if Mr. Trump doesn’t eventually say that,” Nabil Shaath, a senior Abbas adviser, told journalist­s in Ramallah when asked about the two-state solution.

“What the hell are we negotiatin­g? We are negotiatin­g a diplomatic accord between Abu Mazen and Mr. Netanyahu where they can meet each other? No,” he added, referring to Abbas by his Arabic nickname.

Trump’s aides — led by his Middle East envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner and senior internatio­nal negotiatio­ns aide Jason Greenblatt — have been ferrying between leaders from the two sides in recent months.

But Shaath said he was not optimistic that the meeting between Abbas and Trump would lead to significan­t shifts.

“I don’t know if Mr. Trump has much to say. Already his delegation that was here, Mr.Kushner and Mr.Greenblatt, has requested a waiting period of three to four months before Mr.Trump is ready with a formulatio­n to get the peace process started.”

“So it is a courtesy meeting of political importance.”

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