Contrary to international interpretation of US President Donald Trump’s remarks, in which the American leader announced he could live with any solution Israel and the Palestinians would reach that would bring about an end to the decades old conflict; US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley explained that Washington under President Trump still supports a two-state solution, yet is willing to consider other options that would facilitate the required foundation to reach a viable peace agreement.
“Well I think first of all, a two-state solution is what we support. Anybody that wants to say the United States does not support the two-state solution – that would be an error. We absolutely support a two-state solution but we are thinking out of the box as well, which is what does it take to bring these two sides to the table? What do we need to have them agree on? At the end of the day the solution to what will bring peace in the Middle East is going to come from the Israelis and the Palestinian Authority. The United States is just there to support the process,” said Haley.
It is important to cite the exact words President Donald Trump used during his joint press conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House earlier this week, Trump stressed that even though he believed for a while that the two state solution, in which an Israeli and Palestinian states live side by side in peace and security, looked like the easier option, he would support the solution to the conflict that both parties like, emphasizing that a deal would only be reached through compromise from both sides and through direct negotiations.
“So, I’m looking at two-state and one-state and I like the one that both parties like. I’m very happy with the one that both parties like. I can live with either one. I thought for a while the two-state looked like it may be the easier of the two but honestly, if Bibi and if the Palestinians – if Israel and the Palestinians are happy, I’m happy with the one they like the best,” said Trump.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during that same press conference, did not shy away from his commitment to a two-state solution, rather, the Israeli leader reiterated that any final agreement would be of substance, in which the Palestinians recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people, and that they would comply to Israeli demands that Jerusalem perceives as vital to maintain the security of the Jewish state.
“But rather than deal with labels, I want to deal with substance. It’s something I’ve hoped to do for years in a world that’s absolutely fixated on labels and not on substance. So, here’s the substance. There are two prerequisites for peace that I laid out two — several years ago, and they haven’t changed. First, the Palestinians must recognize the Jewish state. They have to stop calling for Israel’s destruction, they have to stop educating their people for Israel’s destruction. Second, in any peace agreement, Israel must retain the overriding security control over the entire area west of the Jordan River because if we don’t, we know what will happen. Because otherwise, we’ll get another radical Islamic terrorist state in the Palestinian areas exploding the peace, exploding the Middle East,” said Netanyahu.
The declarations of both leaders, including the fact that Netanyahu reaffirmed his support for a two-state solution, did not persuade the international community. French Foreign Minister Jean Marc Ayrault, who met with his American counterpart, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Germany, stressed that the Trump administration’s stand on the matter of a two-state solution was unsettling and caused great confusion. Also the German top diplomat, Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, raised concern on the matter, stressing that Germany feared that unrestricted construction in the settlements would make the two-state solution impossible.
“The opinion of the German government on the situation in Israel is known. We support a two-state solution. We are concerned that unlimited construction of settlements and the legalizing of illegal construction will make a two-state solution impossible and could increase the risks of conflicts in the Middle East, including possible war. We will do everything that this option continues to be pursued, we take that for the only realistic option to reduce conflict in the region and above all, not to let new wars break out,” said Gabriel.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres concluded a two-day visit to Egypt, during which he warned against abandoning the idea of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, claiming that there was “no alternative.”
With all the international commotion on the matter of a two-state solution Both Israeli and Palestinian civilians voiced mixed reactions, with most of them refusing to believe that anything would really change on the ground: “This is a good idea to start thinking beyond the two states for two peoples solution and find another, sort of, common way that we can find peace between the two people,” said Yaakov Slabiak, Israeli West Bank resident. “Well, I think Trump is a businessman and what he presented to Bibi is either one of two options: either one state, or two states. Anyway, as he said, Israel will have to pay something for it. And finally, if you ask me, there would be a Palestinians state and an Israeli state,” said Moti Zalkin, Israeli West Bank resident. ”In reality I think that this meeting won’t change anything. It’s the same talks about the settlements, about the two-state solution. One state, two states, he (Trump) even said I don’t mind whether it’s one state or two states, the important thing is that both sides agree, and I believe these comments put an end to a peaceful solution in the West Bank and Gaza,” said Nabil Shaheen, Palestinian resident of the Gaza Strip.
“For me, as a Palestinian, this is not the first time a new American (U.S.) President and a Zionist leader meet and talk to the media. Throughout history we witnessed leaders of the United States and other countries denying our rights,” said Ishaq Seder, Palestinian West Bank resident.