Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Trump, Abbas express hope for peace deal
President says resolution of long conflict ‘maybe not as difficult’ as people think
WASHINGTON — Vowing to achieve success where successive U.S. governments have failed, President Donald Trump hosted Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House on Wednesday and expressed confidence that he could broker “the toughest deal” — peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
“I’ve always heard that perhaps the toughest deal to make is the deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians; let’s prove them wrong,” Trump said, Abbas at his side. “I will do whatever is necessary to facilitate the agreement — to mediate, to arbitrate, anything ...”
Later, as the two leaders sat down in the White House Cabinet room, Trump added that a resolution to one of the most intractable conflicts in the world was “something that I think is, frankly, maybe not as difficult as people have thought over the years.”
Abbas responded with optimism and praise for Trump’s deal-making ability, even though his list of Palestinian requirements for peace was unchanged from decades of earlier failed negotiations. Those include a viable, independent Palestinian state next to Israel, with its capital in east Jerusalem — the so-called two-state solution, which Trump has not endorsed.
“Mr. President, you have the determination and the desire to bring (a deal) to fruition,” Abbas said. “We hope, God willing, we are coming to a new opportunity, a new horizon to bring it about.”
Despite the opening flourishes of praise and good will, the meeting between Trump and Abbas was expected to become more uncomfortable behind closed doors, as the administration was to lay out a series of demands.
Aides have described Trump as fixated on delivering a Middle East peace deal, entrusting the job to son-in-law Jared Kushner, despite his financial connections to the building of settlements on land claimed by Palestinians.
The White House went out of its way to build up Abbas during the visit, giving into requests for a lunch with Trump beyond their meeting, as well as a request that the Palestinian flag be placed behind Trump while the two leaders made statements about the visit, a person close to the White House said.
The White House felt that giving Abbas those symbolic concessions would help set the conditions for a better relationship and create an opening to demand that Abbas shut down terror incitement; stop Palestinian Authority payments to the families of those killed or imprisoned in terrorist attacks against Israelis; refrain from lobbying the United Nations for additional resolutions against Israel and to get on board toward a peace deal.
But when it comes to what an eventual solution should look like, Trump has told close advisers that he’s not picky about the details, or even the broad outlines.
Trump has expressed a willingness to jettison the traditional U.S. stance that any resolution should be based on a two-state solution, in which Israel and a Palestinian state live side-byside, hoping that doing so would spur the two sides to look for more creative solutions. But other members of his administration, including Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, have said the United States remains committed to a twostate solution.
He also threatened to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, which would effectively recognize the disputed city as Israel’s capital and infuriate the Palestinians. Although Trump seems to have backed off publicly planning such a relocation, Vice President Mike Pence reiterated this week that it was still under consideration — although that’s the position that most U.S. administrations have taken for years.
Trump previously hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.
Fundamental issues and small details have killed past attempts to solve one of the most challenging foreign policy riddles any U.S. president faces, and many experts remained skeptical about whether Trump has the knowledge or patience to make good on the bold vows he made Wednesday.
Daniel Shapiro, the last Obama administration ambassador to Israel, said he hoped Trump’s aides learned from the mistakes and failures.
“Not sure if (Netanyahu) or Abbas is more nervous,” Shapiro said on Twitter. “Both could find themselves in the uncomfortable position of being asked 2 do hard things, saying no 2 (Trump) & shifting blame.”