During a meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York yesterday, American President Donald Trump announced that the “deal of the century” will be presented by the end of the year.
News agencies reported Trump telling Netanyahu that the deal is to be revealed within two to three months, stating that the Palestinians are likely to return to the peace talks, but stressed that Israel “has to do something good for the other side [Palestinians]”.
Trump said he favoured the two-state solution. “I think probably two-state is more likely but if they do a single, if they do a double, I am okay with it if they’re both happy. If they’re both happy, I’m okay with either. I think the two-state is more likely.”
He said he hopes that he is able to finish this during his first term.
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“It is a dream of mine to be able to get that done prior to the end of my first term,” adding that his son-in-law and advisor “Jared [Kushner], who’s so involved, he loves Israel but he’s also going to be very fair with the Palestinians.”
He added: “A lot of progress has been made, Israel and the Palestinians want to do something. We’ll start moving pretty soon, quite rapidly.”
Meanwhile, Netanyahu thanked Trump for his absolute support for Israel and for his strong criticism of Iran at the UN General Assembly.
He also said if there would be a Palestinian state, it must be demilitarised and must recognise the Jewish state.