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WASHINGTON – President Trump would be better served to engineer an economic deal with moderate Arab states than to pursue a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Israel’s Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked said Wednesday.

Shaked was asked during an appearance at the Hudson Institute about whether potential peace talks will once again fail. Shaked, who has served under Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since 2015, replied flatly, “I’m a realist.”

Trump earlier this month in a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas vowed to prove critics wrong in helping to secure a peace agreement, saying, “We will get it done.”

Shaked has said that she hopes the Trump administration will come up with something more creative, and on Wednesday she suggested the president reach out to moderate Arab states that have existing relationships with Israel so that the region can forge an economic agreement that would boost the Palestinian territories’ economy. Investment in Palestinian infrastructure and industrial zones, she said, would benefit both them and Israel.

“I think President Trump has a huge opportunity to have an economic deal,” Shaked said. “I think he is the right person to do it. First of all, people are really involved in what’s going on in the Middle East and understand that the gaps between the Israelis and Palestinians are much too big. … If the president is talking about an economic deal, the economic deal can be much better (than peace talks).”

Shaked, who was scheduled to meet with Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday, was also asked about Trump’s decision to fire FBI Director Jeff Comey on Tuesday, but she steered clear of the topic.

“I respect your democracy, and I never interfere with internal (decisions),” she said. CONTINUE AT SITE