WASHINGTON--President Donald Trump on Wednesday dropped a U.S. commitment to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a longstanding bedrock of Middle East policy, even as he urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to curb settlement construction.
In the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders since Trump's victory in the 2016 election, the Republican president backed away from a U.S. embrace of the eventual creation of a Palestinian state, upending a position taken by successive administrations and the international community.
"I'm looking at two states and one state, and I like the one both parties like," Trump told a joint news conference with Netanyahu. "I can live with either one."
Trump vowed to work toward a peace deal between Israel and Palestinians but said it would require compromise on both sides, leaving it up to the parties themselves ultimately to reach the terms of any agreement. But he offered no new prescription for achieving an accord that has eluded so many of his predecessors, and Palestinian anger over his abandonment of their goal of statehood could scrap any chance of coaxing them back to the negotiating table.
Dropping a bombshell on Netanyahu as they faced reporters just before sitting down for talks, Trump told him: "I'd like to see you pull back on settlements for a little bit."
The right-wing Israeli leader, who may have expected more decidedly pro-Israel rhetoric as the two sought to get past years of feuding with Trump's Democratic predecessor Barack Obama, appeared startled. Netanyahu insisted that Jewish settlements were "not the core of the conflict" and made no commitment to reduce settlement building in the occupied West Bank.
Trump echoed Netanyahu's calls for Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state - something they have refused to do - and to halt incitement against Israelis. But even as Trump promised to pursue peace between the two sides - who have had no substantive peace talks since 2014 - he offered no new ideas for unblocking the peace process.
Setting an initially chummy tone, Trump greeted Netanyahu on a red carpet rolled out to the White House driveway. The two leaders smiled, shook hands and chatted amiably before heading inside the executive mansion, accompanied by first lady Melania Trump and Netanyahu's wife Sara.
Among the questions that figured prominently on the agenda was the future of the two-state solution - the idea of creating a Palestine living peacefully alongside Israel. Foreshadowing Trump's policy shift, a senior White House official said on Tuesday that peace did not necessarily have to entail Palestinian statehood. Palestinians responded by warning Trump that such a move would seriously damage U.S. credibility.
