‘There’s a good chance’ for a Mideast peace deal

Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and US President Donald Trump shake hands before a meeting at the Palace Hotel during the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 18, 2017, in New York.

Trump and Netanyahu also said they would discuss the Iran nuclear deal, a multilateral agreement reached in 2015 which Israel opposes, and which Trump has repeatedly criticized.

Asked by reporters whether the United States plans to stay in the deal, Trump replied, “you’ll be seeing very soon. We’re talking about it constantly, so you’ll see.”

Trump is scheduled to meet later in the week with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, where the conversation will likely focus on the same issues. In August, Trump’s special envoy for international negotiations, Jason Greenblatt, and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, visited the Middle East for meetings with Israeli officials and representatives from a half-dozen Arab countries.

It’s unclear what, if anything, Trump intends to do to restart the stalled negotiations. So far, he has refused to endorse the so-called two-state solution, a hallmark of American policy under Trump’s predecessors, Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Under a two-state solution, an independent Palestine would exist alongside an independent Israel.