President Donald Trump on Friday said to Israel that they will have to make “significant compromises” in order for a peace with the Palestinians to be achieved. This comes as a result of Trump previously being largely criticized by the international community for being pro-Israel bias as he declared Jerusalem as the official capital of Israel.
Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the Israel capital was met with outrage from the Palestinians, the move overturned decades of peace talks between the two nations. This led to the Palestinians dismissing Washington as a mediator and asking additional world powers to take over the process.
Trump during an interview with an Israeli newspaper described his Jerusalem move as a “high point” of his first year in office.
Israel captured the eastern part of the city in the 1967 war between the two nations, and although they declared it as their capital, the move was not recognized internationally.
“I wanted to make clear that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. Regarding specific borders, I will grant my support to what the two sides agree between themselves,” Trump said to the conservative newspaper Israel Hayom daily.
“I think that both sides will have to make significant compromises in order for achieving a peace deal to be possible,” Trump added, without additional explanation.
According to Reuters, the interview coincided with fresh strains between the Palestinians and the U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, following the killing by a Palestinian of a Jewish settler. After the settler was stabbed to death on Monday, Friedman tweeted that he had previously donated an ambulance to the slain man’s community and that he was praying for the next-of-kin, adding, “Palestinian ‘leaders’ have praised the killer.”
Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas immediately condemned the U.S. ambassador for taking Israel side.
“The American ambassador’s statements make us wonder about his relationship with the occupation, is he representing America or Israel?”
“Friedman’s recommendations and advice, which do not aim to achieve a just peace on the basis of international legitimacy, are what led to this crisis in American-Palestinian relations,” Abu Rdainah added.
Previous U.S. president, as well as the rest of the world powers, see the Israeli settlements in Jerusalem as illegal, but the Trump administration has backed Israel in this conflict.
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