President Donald Trump is chasing the ‘toughest deal of all’ – Middle East peace – and he says he’s pouring his heart and soul into obtaining it.
‘It’s a complex subject, always been considered the toughest deal of all, peace between Israel and the Palestinians, the toughest of all, but I think we have a very, very good chance, and I certainly will devote everything within, within my heart and within my soul to get that deal made,’ he told Palestine’s Mahmoud Abbas.
Trump told Abbas as they sat down on Wednesday for another round of discussions that he believes peace can be achieved throughout region.
‘I think we have a pretty good shot, maybe the best shot ever,’ Trump assessed.
President Donald Trump says he’s giving Middle East peace talks his all. ‘Always been considered the toughest deal of all…but I think we have a very, very good chance,’ he told Palestine’s Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday
The U.S. president said Monday that he believes his administration will be the one to finally facilitate peace between Israel, Palestine and their neighbors.
At the beginning of a bilateral meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday afternoon on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Trump said he’s ‘giving it an absolute go.’
‘I think there’s a good chance that it could happen,’ Trump posited.
Netanyahu affirmed that they would discuss ‘the way we can seize the opportunity for peace’ not just between Israel and Palestine but Israel and Arab nations in the region.
After the meeting, Brian Hook, a State Department official, told reporters at the United Nations that Trump ‘is deeply committed to achieving an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.’
‘He and his team have continued deliberations with leaders on both sides on potential steps to reach a comprehensive peace agreement. His team recently had multiple meetings with leaders in the region, and obviously a good deal of work remains to be done, but discussions remain serious and constructive,’ Hook stated.
Abbas said Wednesday that Trump’s repeated meetings with him are proof that he’s committed to facilitating a deal.
‘It attests to the seriousness of Your Excellency, Mr. President, to achieve the deal of the century in the Middle East during this year or in the coming months, God willing,’ Abbas said through an interpreter.
‘And we are very certain that you, Mr. President, are determined to reach real peace in the Middle East. And this gives us the assurance and the confidence that we are on the verge of real peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis,’ Abbas added.
Trump said Monday that he thinks there’s a ‘good chance’ his administration will be able to facilitate a Middle East peace deal
Trump made the declaration during a bilateral meeting with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday that Trump’s repeated meetings with him are proof that he’s committed to facilitating a deal
Representatives from the White House have met with him more than 20 times since Trump took office to discuss a deal, Abbas revealed.
‘And I’m very thankful for these efforts, and you will find utmost seriousness on our part to achieve peace, because peace serves our interests and the interests of the Israeli people,’ he said.
Abbas pointed out that the Islamic new year begins the heels of Rosh Hashanah this week.
‘This is a very sweet coincidence that we can celebrate the new year together within a 24-hour period, and if this is an indication to anything it means that we can coexist peacefully together,’ he determined.
Trump told him that it was ‘a very great sentiment.’
‘And I have to say, from the time I’m a little boy, I’ve been hearing about peace in the Middle East,’ the former real estate mogul said. ‘And for so many years I’ve been hearing about peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
‘And we’re at a very important juncture — there’s a small period of time — and we’re going to see what we can do. There can be no promises, obviously. So many people have talked about it, and it’s never happened,’ he admitted.
‘But we’re fighting very hard. We are trying very hard. We’re all getting along together well. We’ll see if we can do it. And if we do do it, it would be a great, great legacy for everybody — for everybody.’
Trump said Monday, during his meeting with Netanyahu, ‘We are giving it an absolute go. I think there’s a good chance that it could happen. Most people would say there’s no chance whatsoever. I actually think with the capability of Bibi and frankly the other side, I really think we have a chance.
‘I think Israel would like to see it, and I think the Palestinians would like to see it. And I can tell you that the Trump Administration would like to see it,’ he said.
A billionaire who was once a major international businessman, Trump said that the parties to a prospective agreement are ‘working very hard on’ a deal.
‘We’ll see what happens. Historically people say it can’t happen. I say it can happen,’ he said.
Trump has been sending his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and an envoy, Jason Greenblatt, to the Middle East for months in search of a deal. Kushner and Netanyahu have a long-standing relationship, as do Trump and the Israeli politician.
Like Netanyahu, Kushner and his family are Jewish. The president’s eldest daughter Ivanka converted to the religion when she married him. Both Jared and Ivanka are senior advisers at the White House to the president.
Netanyahu has been to visit Trump once at the White House in Washington, D.C. Trump made a stop in Israel in May during his first foreign trip.
Speaking to Trump on Monday at their meeting during the annual convening of member states of the United Nations, Netanyahu said, ‘The alliance between America and Israel has never been stronger, never been deeper. I can say this in ways that people see and in ways that they don’t see.’
Trump met with Abbas today during a break from UN activities in New York.
During their last meeting, in Bethlehem when Trump made his Middle East swing, the U.S. president said he was ‘committed to trying to achieve a peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians.’
‘I intend to do everything I can to help them achieve that goal,’ he said at the time.
Trump told Abbas earlier in the month during side-by-side remarks in the White House’s Roosevelt room that he’d like to be a mediator or arbitrator of a deal.
‘But any agreement cannot be imposed by the United States, or by any other nation,’ he said. ‘The Palestinians and Israelis must work together to reach an agreement that allows both peoples to live, worship, and thrive and prosper in peace.’
Offering his services as a facilitator, Trump asserted: ‘We will get this done.’
Peace between the rival territories wasn’t the only item on the agenda today during Trump’s meeting with Netanyahu. The two leaders were also due to discuss the nuclear deal that the previous administration entered into with Iran.
‘I look forward to discussing with you how we can address together what you rightly call is the terrible nuclear deal with Iran and how to roll back Iran’s growing aggression in the region, especially in Syria,’ Netanyahu said to Trump today.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told CNN on Monday that America will pay a ‘high cost’ if the U.S. rips up the deal, as he’s repeatedly said he’d like to.
Rouhani told CNN in New York, ‘Exiting such an agreement would carry a high cost for the United States of America, and I do not believe Americans would be willing to pay such a high cost for something that will be useless for them.’
Trump played coy when reporters asked him about it as they were booted from his chat with Netanyahu after the leaders’ opening remarks.
‘You’ll see very soon. You’ll be seeing very soon,’ Trump stated.