Why Trump’s Two-State ‘Reversal’ Could Lock In the Status Quo on Israel-Palestine

Why Trump’s Two-State ‘Reversal’ Could Lock In the Status Quo on Israel-Palestine
U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a joint news conference, Washington D.C., Feb. 15, 2017 (AP photo by Evan Vucci).

U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took their budding “bromance” to the next level in a chummy press conference Wednesday, reaffirming not just U.S.-Israel ties but their own personal friendship as well.

For those concerned that U.S. policy toward Israel under the Trump administration will shift rightward, the meeting offered a lot of confirmation. But one moment in particular stood out: Trump’s perceived abandonment of the two-state solution, a cornerstone of Washington’s stance on the Palestinian-Israeli peace process since the Clinton administration.

“I’m looking at two-state and one-state, and I like the one that both parties like,” Trump said. “I’m very happy with the one that both parties like. I can live with either one.”

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