Trump expresses doubts that Israel-Palestinian peace deal possible

US President Donald Trump seemed to express scepticism Thursday that his administration will be able to forge a deal between Israel and the Palestinians, speaking at a White House press conference with Kuwaiti emir Amir al-Sabah.

Responding to a question from Al Arabiya about whether to “expect a new American initiative to move the [peace] process forward”, Trump described it as “the world’s most complex and difficult deal”, before adding: “But it is something that could happen”.

While Trump claimed that “the relationships that we have with both [Israel and the Palestinians] can help”, he then added that “it’s an event that’s just never taken place. Sometimes people think they’re close and it never happens, or it never happens successfully”.

I think we have a chance of doing it. I think the Palestinians would like to see it happen. I think the Israelis would like to see it happen. And usually when you have two groups that would like to see something happen, good things can happen.

Trump concluded by saying that he thought “there is a chance that there could be peace. But again, I say that a little bit reluctantly. We’re going to give it our best. We have tremendous talent working on that particular transaction. As you know, David Friedman, the ambassador, is very much involved. We have a great group of people. We’ll see what happens”.

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