U.S. shifts on Mideast 2-state bid

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu both declined to commit to the internationally accepted recipe of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a diplomatic shift for both governments.

At a joint news conference Wednesday ahead of their first White House meeting, Trump said he would support whatever solution that Israelis and Palestinians wanted.

He added that while it once appeared that a two-state solution was the "easier of the two" options for the Palestinians and Israelis, he'd be open to alternatives. "I'm looking at two-state and one-state, and I like the one that both parties like," he told reporters. "I can live with either one."

Netanyahu dodged the question.

[PRESIDENT TRUMP: Timeline, appointments, executive orders + guide to actions in first 100 days]

For years, the United States and most of its allies advocated the vision of two states, one Israeli and one Palestinian, living side by side as the basis for lasting peace in the region.

Trump has now backed away from that commitment, raising questions about how officials would draw up a peace plan.

"I would like to see a deal be made. I think a deal will be made," Trump said. "I know that every president would like to. Most of them have not started until late, because they never thought it was possible, and it wasn't possible because they didn't do it."

[EMAIL UPDATES: Get free breaking news alerts, daily newsletters with top headlines delivered to your inbox]

Trump gave no timetable for the larger effort but suggested it will come soon. He flattered Netanyahu but also pressured him.

"Bibi and I have known each other a long time," Trump said, using the Israeli leader's nickname. "Smart man. Great negotiator. And I think we're going to make a deal. It might be a bigger and better deal than people in this room even understand, so that's a possibility."

Dozens of countries, including the U.S., reaffirmed their support for a two-state accord at an international conference in Paris last month, before Trump's inauguration.

At one point Wednesday, Trump noted the need for compromise in achieving any Mideast peace. Netanyahu interjected: "Both sides."

In Cairo on Wednesday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: "There is no Plan B to the situation between Palestinians and Israelis but a two-state solution. ... Everything must be done to preserve that possibility."

While a two-state solution would involve Israel ceding occupied territory that is strategically and religiously significant, many in the country believe a single binational state would be even more difficult to maintain. It would mean granting millions of Palestinians citizenship and voting rights, threatening Israel's Jewish majority and its Jewish character.

Trump's campaign platform made no mention of a Palestinian state, and his inner circle included allies of the West Bank settler movement.

A delegation of settlement leaders was invited to Trump's inauguration.

Settlements In Dispute

On Wednesday, Trump criticized Israel's rapid expansion of housing settlements in the occupied West Bank, land claimed by the Palestinians.

Asked about the settlements, Trump turned to Netanyahu, standing at a lectern beside him, and said, "I'd like to see you hold back on settlements a little bit."

Netanyahu looked surprised and countered that settlements could be discussed as part of a final peace deal but added that they were "not the core of the conflict."

In recent weeks, Netanyahu has approved construction of more than 6,000 settler homes in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast War.

He also allowed parliament to pass a law retroactively legalizing some 4,000 settlement homes built on private Palestinian land.

Still, Netanyahu indicated he was open to some sort of arrangement.

"We'll work something out, but I'd like to see a deal be made. I think a deal will be made," he said.

Separately on Wednesday, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas called on Netanyahu to end settlement building and expressed "willingness to resume a credible peace process."

In Washington, Trump also was asked about his campaign pledge to relocate the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem; both Israelis and the Palestinians claim Jerusalem as their capital.

Trump said he was thinking about it "very carefully" but would not commit to a move date.

Trump and Netanyahu seemed on the same page on other topics.

Both were critical of the landmark deal, negotiated by six world powers and Iran in 2015, that eased sanctions on Tehran in exchange for destroying or freezing Iran's nuclear development programs. But Trump did not repeat his campaign promise to "rip up" the deal.

On terrorism and other matters, there appeared little daylight between the leaders.

Echoing language used by Trump over a need to combat "radical Islamic extremism," Netanyahu said that for peace to be sustainable, two "prerequisites" must be met: "Recognition of the Jewish state and Israel's security needs west of the Jordan" River.

"I want to deal with substance, not labels. The world is fixated on labels and not on the substance," Netanyahu said in response to a question about the future of two states. "But if anyone believes that I, as prime minister of Israel, responsible for the security of my country, would blindly walk into a Palestinian terrorist state that seeks the destruction of my country, they're gravely mistaken."

In contrast to the often-chilly joint appearances that Netanyahu had with former President Barack Obama, the Israeli leader's arrival on the south steps of the White House was full of smiles, kisses and warm handshakes shared by the two leaders and their wives.

"There is no greater friend of Israel," Netanyahu said of Trump. "Our alliance has always been strong, but under your leadership, it will be even stronger."

Pompeo, Abbas Meet

Also on Wednesday, senior Palestinian officials revealed CIA chief Mike Pompeo secretly met in the West Bank with Abbas, the first high-level meeting between the Palestinian leader and a Trump administration official.

Pompeo and Abbas held talks Tuesday at the Palestinian government compound in the city of Ramallah, said two senior officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters about the meeting.

The White House and the CIA declined comment.

One of the Palestinian officials said Abbas briefed Pompeo on Palestinian positions ahead of Wednesday's White House talks between Trump and Netanyahu.

The Palestinian leadership previously had expressed concern it would be sidelined by an administration seen as being closely aligned with Israel.

The Palestinians seek a state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem. The contours of a solution emerged in previous U.S.-led talks, including a border based on the 1967 lines that would include mutual land swaps to accommodate some of the larger Jewish settlements close to Israel.

Information for this article was contributed by Tracy Wilkinson of Tribune News Service; by Vivian Salama, Jill Colvin, Josef Federman and Karin Laub, Mohammed Daraghmeh, Daniel Estrin and Deb Riechmann of The Associated Press; and by Anne Gearan, Ruth Eglash and William Booth of The Washington Post.

A Section on 02/16/2017