Trump Adopts Bibi’s Stance on 2-State Solution

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump clarified his previous comments, in which he suggested that he would remain “neutral” in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in an in-depth interview with the New York Times on Friday.

“I would love to see if a real deal could be made. Not a deal that you know, lasts for three months, and then everybody starts shooting again,” Trump told New York Times reporters David Sanger and Maggie Haberman in a phone interview published on Saturday. “And a big part of that deal, you know, has to be to end terror, we have to end terror. But I would say this, in order to negotiate a deal, I’d want to go in there as evenly as possible and we’ll see if we can negotiate a deal.”

The Republican presidential front-runner maintained that while the conditions on the ground don’t indicate that the two sides are heading towards peace, “many people, and almost everybody would love to see a deal on the side of Israel.” Adding that he was “surprised” to learn that Israelis are eager to jumpstart peace talks that would lead to a final settlement. “They really want to make a deal, they want to make a good deal, they want to make a fair deal, but they do want to make a deal,” he opined. “And, almost everybody, and I’m talking to people off the record, and off the record, they really would like to see a deal.”

Later on in the interview, Trump outlined his stance on implementing the two-state solution, adopting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s demand for mutual recognition. “I support a two-state solution on Israel. But the Palestinian Authority has to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. Have to do that,” said Trump. “And they have to stop the terror, stop the attacks, stop the teaching of hatred… And if they can’t, you’re never going to make a deal. One state, two states, it doesn’t matter: you’re never going to be able to make a deal. Because Israel would have to have that.” They have to stop the terror. They have to stop the teaching of children to aspire to grow up as terrorists, which is a real problem.”

“Now whether or not the Palestinians can live with that? You would think they could. It shouldn’t be hard except that the ingrained hatred is tremendous,” he added.

In his Bar Ilan speech in 2009, Netanyahu put forth the demand of the Palestinians to recgonize Israel as “the national homeland of the Jewish People” as a “fundamental condition for ending the conflict.”

Trump’s comments came just days after he addressed AIPAC’s annual policy conference in Washington, D.C., in which he pledged to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and dismantle the Iran nuclear deal. “I have gotten some of the reviews of my speech at Aipac and, really, they’ve been very nice,” Trump told the NY Times reporters who interviewed him. “Many, many standing ovations and they agreed with what I said.”

Read the full text of Trump’s comments on Israel below:

“I think a lot of people are saying it’s going to result in a two-state solution. What I would love to do is to, a lot of people are saying that. I’m not saying anything. What I’m going to do is, you know, I specifically don’t want to address the issue because I would love to see if a deal could be made. If a deal could be made. Now, I’m not sure it can be made, there’s such unbelievable hatred, there’s such, it’s ingrained, it’s in the blood, the hatred and the distrust, and the horror. But I would love to see if a real deal could be made. Not a deal that you know, lasts for three months, and then everybody starts shooting again. And a big part of that deal, you know, has to be to end terror, we have to end terror. But I would say this, in order to negotiate a deal, I’d want to go in there as evenly as possible and we’ll see if we can negotiate a deal. But I would absolutely give that a very hard try to do. You know, a lot of people think that’s the hardest of all deals to negotiate. A lot of people think that. So, but I would say that I would have a better chance than anybody of making a deal. I’ll tell you one thing, people that I know from Israel, many people, many, many people, and almost everybody would love to see a deal on the side of Israel. Everybody would, now with that being said, most people don’t think a deal can be made. But from the Israeli side, they would love to see a deal. And I’ve been a little bit surprised here. Now that I’m really into it, I’ve been a little bit surprised to hear that. I would’ve said, I would’ve said that maybe, maybe you know, maybe Israel never really wanted to make a deal or doesn’t really want to make a deal. They really want to make a deal, they want to make a good deal, they want to make a fair deal, but they do want to make a deal. And, almost everybody, and I’m talking to people off the record, and off the record, they really would like to see a deal. I’m not so sure that the other side can mentally, you know, get their heads around the deal, because the hatred is so incredible.”

“Basically I support a two-state solution on Israel. But the Palestinian Authority has to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. Have to do that. And they have to stop the terror, stop the attacks, stop the teaching of hatred, you know? The children, I sort of talked about it pretty much in the speech, but the children are aspiring to grow up to be terrorists. They are taught to grow up to be terrorists. And they have to stop. They have to stop the terror. They have to stop the stabbings and all of the things going on. And they have to recognize that Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. And they have to be able to do that. And if they can’t, you’re never going to make a deal. One state, two states, it doesn’t matter: you’re never going to be able to make a deal. Because Israel would have to have that. They have to stop the terror. They have to stop the teaching of children to aspire to grow up as terrorists, which is a real problem. So with that you’d go two states, but in order to go there, before you, you know, prior to getting there, you have to get those basic things done.

“Now whether or not the Palestinians can live with that? You would think they could. It shouldn’t be hard except that the ingrained hatred is tremendous.”