Trump: Israeli-Palestinian Peace Deal Can Be Made

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Sunday said he’d love to broker a peace settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians, citing Israeli support for a two-state solution.

During a campaign rally in Terre Haute, Indiana, on Sunday, Trump said seeing Israel and the Palestinians sign on a peace deal would be a “beauty” in spite of the situation on the ground.

“I am going to try and make that deal just because  – man, would that be a beauty – if you like deals. I like deals,” said Trump. “A lot of my Jewish friends say, ‘You will never be able to make the deal’ because there are so many years of hatred, especially on the other side. You know, they grow up as young children hating, hating, hating Israel. I think the deal can be made. But we got to be smart, and we got to use our best people; gotta use me, but you got to use our best people. And I know the best people.”

“I’ve never met a person from Israel that didn’t want to make the deal. I’d love to be able to make that deal,” he added.

Trump also questioned why the U.S. is funding the United Nations but is not demanding the body use its power to broker a deal to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Republican presidential front-runner did not repeat a previous controversial suggestion that he would be “neutral” on the conflict as a mediator. He didn’t mention the issue at all during his foreign policy address last week other than slamming President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden for criticizing Israel for “acting as an impediment to peace in the region.”

Read a transcript of Trump’s remarks on the issue below:

“Sometimes people are so close to something that they can’t see the forest for the trees. Same thing with the United Nations. We pay so much. When do you see the U.N. going in and making a deal? You don’t even hear the name anymore. Why isn’t the U.N. making deals? Why aren’t they working with Israel and the Palestinians as an example? Why aren’t — which is probably the all-time hard deal to make. I am going to try and make that deal just because  – man, would that be a beauty – if you like deals. I like deals. I do deals. That would be great. Very hard — a lot of my Jewish friends say, ‘You will never be able to make the deal’ – because there are so many years of hatred, especially on the other side. You know, they grow up as young children hating, hating, hating Israel. I think the deal can be made. But we got to be smart and we got to use our best people; gotta use me, but we got to use our best people. And I know the best people. Now, with that being said, some of the smartest people I know from Israel say ‘We’d love to make the deal.’ — you know, I’ve never met a person from Israel that didn’t want to make the deal. But it is just a very hard deal to make because it’s years of — of whatever. But I’d love to be able to make that deal.”