White House gives up on Israeli-Palestinian two state solution peace deal

President Barack Obama has admitted there is no possibility of securing a two-state solution between the Israelis and Palestinians and doubts whether he will even be able to get them back round the negotiating table while he is in office.
Ahead of the Washington visit of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister next week, Mr Obama has made a “realistic assessment” that a peace deal will not happen before he leaves office in January 2017, US officials said.
“The president has reached the conclusion that, barring a major shift, the parties are not going to be in the position to negotiate a final status agreement,” said Rob Malley, Mr Obama’s senior Middle East adviser.
It marked the first time in two decades where the White House “faces a reality where the prospect of a negotiated two-state solution is not in the cards,” Mr Malley told journalists.
The admission comes at a time of soured relations between Mr Obama and Mr Netanyahu, who clashed bitterly in the spring over nuclear negotiations with Iran.
In an open challenge to the nuclear deal, the Israeli leader accepted an invitation behind Mr Obama’s back to address the US Congress, where he criticised the White House’s efforts in the nuclear deal.
The Israeli prime minister also set out a hawkish approach to peace negotiations in March of last year, announcing on the eve of parliamentary elections that he would not allow for the creation of a Palestinian state were he re-elected.

 

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