May 23 (UPI) — President Donald Trump called for a breakthrough in Israeli-Palestinian relations after he met Tuesday in Bethlehem with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Abbas announced he is ready to be Trump’s partner in securing peace in the Middle East through establishment of a Palestinian state on land captured by Israel in 1967. Standing with Trump after their talk in Abbas’ presidential residence, Abbas said that Palestinians “are committed to working with you to reach a historic peace deal between us and Israel.”
Abbas stressed that “the problem is not between us and Judaism. It is between us and occupation.”
Trump arrived in Bethlehem Tuesday after weekend meetings with Saudi Arabian leaders in Riyadh, and a meeting in Jerusalem on Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In Bethlehem, Trump said he was “truly hopeful” for an end to the decades-long conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, and added that goodwill from his visit would turn into peace talks. The latest round of peace talks in 2014, involving then-President Barack Obama and John Kerry, his secretary of state, failed.
“Peace is a choice we must make each day, and the United States is here to help make that dream possible for young Jewish, Christians and Muslim children all across the region,” Trump said.
Trump was scheduled to visit Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, on Tuesday, and will next travel to Rome, where he will meet with Pope Francis on Wednesday.
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