Dec 12, 2024 - Politics & Policy

Trump sidesteps his 2020 Israel-Palestine peace plan

Barak Ravid

Palestinians visit the site of the attack to inspect the damage after an Israeli airstrike targeted a building belonging to the al-Habbash family in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp in central Gaza City, Gaza on December 12, 2024.. The attack resulted in casualties and injuries, with significant damage to — Palestinians visit the site of an Israeli airstrike in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp in central Gaza City on Thursday. Photo: Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images

President-elect Trump did not commit to pursuing a two-state solution in the Israel-Palestine conflict, telling Time magazine in a new interview that it's only one of several options in the region.

Why it matters: Trump presented a peace plan in January 2020 that was based on a two-state solution. But he did not recommit to that proposal as his second term approaches.

"I want a long lasting peace. I'm not saying that's a very likely scenario ... I want a peace where we don't have an October 7 in another three years. You can do it two state, but there are numerous ways it can be done. I'd like to see everybody be happy," he told Time.

Flashback: Trump's comments were similar to the position he presented publicly at the beginning of his first term, when he said he had no preference between a two-state solution or a one-state solution and would agree to whatever the Israelis and Palestinians decide.

Trump said he prevented Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from annexing the occupied West Bank in his first term, but stopped short of saying whether he would do it again.
"We'll see what happens," he said.

Driving the news: Trump said in the interview that Netanyahu knows he wants the war in Gaza to end.

"I want everything to end. I don't want people from either side killed," he stressed.
When asked if he trusts Netanyahu, Trump said: "I don't trust anybody".

The big picture: Asked about the possibility of a war with Iran, he said: "Anything can happen. It's a very volatile situation."

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Trump sidesteps his 2020 Israel-Palestine peace plan

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