US will back two-state solution if both sides agree - Mike Pence

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

US will back two-state solution if both sides agree – Mike Pence

Reuters in Cairo
Sun 21 Jan 2018 00.28 GMT

US vice-president Mike Pence has told Egypt’s leader that the US would support a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians if the two sides agreed to it, seeking to reassure a key Arab ally over Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Pence was in Egypt on Saturday on the first leg of a three-country tour that includes stops in Jordan and Israel.

It is the highest-level visit by a US official to the region since December, when Trump upended decades of US policy on Jerusalem in a move opposed by Arab leaders including Egyptian president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.

“We heard President al-Sisi out,” Pence said after their meeting. He added that the Egyptian leader described his objection to Trump’s decision as a “disagreement between friends”.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/21/us-will-back-two-state-solution-if-both-sides-agree-mike-pence

[OAITW r.2.0]

1. Well, that is a non-starter. nt

[C_U_L8R]

2. That's about the limpest leadership we've ever seen

But not surprising coming from Pence

[drray23]

3. sure and after what has been going on here

i am sure they will trust Trump's word...

[aranthus]

4. What else can he say?

Should he say that the US is going to force Israel to give in to Palestinian demands even though the Palestinians won't accept the existence of the Jewish state of Israel? Should he say that the US will force the Palestinians to accept the existence of a Jewish state in the hope of achieving a viable state from a government that they don't trust? Should he say that since the two sides aren't close to an agreement that we will just let the Israelis resolve things however they want? Should we propose our own solution and enforce it with troops? What else can he say besides supporting the idea of a two state solution and urge the two sides to negotiate in good faith?