US will back two-state solution for Palestinians, Israelis, says Pence
CAIRO: US Vice President Mike Pence told Egypt’s leader the US would support a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians if the two sides agreed to it, seeking to reassure a key Arab ally over President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
It is the highest-level visit by a US official to the region since December, when Trump upended decades of US policy on Jerusalem in a move opposed by Arab leaders including Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
“We heard President El-Sisi out,” Pence told reporters after their meeting, saying the Egyptian leader described his objection to Trump’s decision as a “disagreement between friends.”
Pence said he assured El-Sisi that the US was committed to preserving the status quo of holy sites in Jerusalem and had come to no final resolution on boundaries for the two parties. “My perception was that he was encouraged by that message,” Pence said.
The Egyptian presidency said in a statement that El-Sisi noted that only negotiations based on a twostate solution could bring an end to the conflict, “and Egypt would spare no effort to support this.”
Pence said he also pressed El-Sisi about two Americans who have been imprisoned in Egypt since 2013, as well as for reform of Egypt’s restrictive laws on non-governmental organizations.
In his meeting with Egypt’s president, Pence pledged firm US backing in the nation’s fight against militants and said ties between the two countries had never been stronger after a period of “drifting apart.”
“We stand shoulder to shoulder with you in Egypt in the fight against terrorism,” Pence told El-Sisi.
Egypt has faced security problems, including attacks by Daesh militants in the North Sinai region. Trump has made the fight against Daesh a top priority.
Though Pence intends to discuss counterterrorism throughout the trip, the Jerusalem decision remains a hot topic. Trump’s announcement, which also set in motion the process of moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, prompted Palestinians to reject the US as a peace broker.