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Trump says Middle East peace ‘can take different forms’ than a Palestinian state

‘It can’t go on where every five years you end up in tragedy,’ says president-elect. ‘There are other alternatives.’

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

President-elect said that peace in the Middle East “can take different forms” than a Palestinian state, which US administrations often tout as the only solution for solving the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

“I support a plan of peace, and it can take different forms,” Trump told Time magazine.

“I support whatever solution we can do to get peace. There are other ideas other than two-state, but I support whatever is necessary to get not just peace, [but] a lasting peace. It can’t go on where every five years you end up in tragedy. There are other alternatives,” he said.

Trump continued, “There are numerous ways you can do it. You can do two states, but there are numerous ways it can be done… I’d like to see everybody be happy. Everybody go about their lives, and people stop from dying. That includes on many different fronts,” the president-elect continued.

This is at odds with Trump’s statement during his previous presidency when he seemed to be open to a two-state solution.

Trump said, “I like the two-state solution… That’s what I think works best.”

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However, Trump declared the next day, “If the Israelis and Palestinians want one state, that’s okay with me… If they want two states, that’s okay with me.”

In 2020, Trump offered the Palestinians a two-state deal that would have given them 70% of Judea and Samaria except for the areas that contain Israeli settlements.

Although Trump’s Mideast and Arab Affairs adviser, Massad Boulos, emphasized the previous Trump two-state plan as a starting point, both Trump and the Israeli public seem to be less inclined to support a Palestinian state after Hamas’s massacre on October 7.

“What I want is a deal where there’s going to be peace and where the killing stops,” Trump responds.

When asked whether he supported the annexation of parts of Judea and Samaria, Trump avoided the question but added that he had prevented the move during his first administration.

“I want a long-lasting peace. I’m not saying that’s a very likely scenario, but I want a long-lasting peace, a peace where we don’t have an October 7 in another three years,” he says.

“There are numerous ways you can do it. You can do it in two states, but there are numerous ways it can be done… I’d like to see everybody be happy. Everybody go about their lives, and people stop from dying. That includes on many different fronts,” the president-elect continues.”