U.S. Drops Insistence on Two-State Solution to Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Trump administration’s policy shift comes on the eve of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the White House By Felicia Schwartz*****

Posted By on February 15th, 2017

https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-drops-insistence-on-two-state-solution-to-israeli-palestinian-conflict-1487140809

WASHINGTON—The White House said Tuesday that finding a solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians doesn’t have to include an agreement to establish two separate states, marking a dramatic break from decades of U.S. policy.

On the eve of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the White House to meet President Donald Trump, a senior administration official said the Israelis and Palestinians have to agree on what form peace between their countries will take—and that didn’t necessarily include two states.

“A two-state solution that doesn’t bring peace is not a goal that anybody wants to achieve,” the official said. “Peace is the goal, whether it comes in the form of a two-state solution if that’s what the parties want or something else, if that’s what the parties want, we’re going to help them.”

 Two states for two peoples, Israelis and Palestinians, has been the official U.S. policy of Democratic and Republican administrations for decades, and was the tenet guiding historic talks at Oslo and Camp David. Most governments and world bodies back that principle as well and it had been embraced by the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu started meetings with U.S. officials in Washington, ahead of a critical summit with President Donald Trump on Wednesday. Mr. Netanyahu said he expected the pair would “see eye-to-eye on the dangers emanating from the region.” Photo: AP

The U.S. historically has said it supports direct negotiations between the two sides that would end in a two-state solution. Toward that end, Washington has opposed Israeli construction of settlements in the Palestinian territories.

A spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the White House message, noting that Israel would wait for the meeting between Messrs. Trump and Netanyahu later Wednesday for more clarity on the U.S.’s approach to the conflict.

A spokesman for Mr. Netanyahu couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

The comments from the White House create a dilemma for the Israeli prime minister. Mr. Netanyahu has officially advocated for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since a landmark speech in 2009, but in practice he has continued to approve settlements that the international community believes undermine that goal.

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