Abbas Emphasizes the Need for Israeli-Palestinian Peace in Meeting with Trump

Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, expressed on Tuesday in the presence of Donald Trump that he hopes his name will be recorded in history as the U.S. President who established Israeli-Palestinian peace. Abbas shared this hope on Tuesday, June 2, during a press conference after his one-hour talks with Mr. Trump in the West Bank. The U.S. President met with Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem on the second day of his visit to Israel. Abbas added, "The Palestinian people want freedom and independence; this is the key to achieving peace, and with such peace, the people of the world will also gain new hope." Abu Mazen emphasized that the state of Palestine should be established within the borders of 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital. Mahmoud Abbas also stated that Palestinians have no problem with Judaism and Jews. Abu Mazen recalled the Arab Peace Initiative. The Arab Peace Initiative, proposed in 2002 by the Arab League and initiated by the then Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, suggests the return of occupied lands in exchange for full peace between all Arab countries and Israel. The U.S. President promised during the Bethlehem press conference to work for peace, but did not mention the two-state solution (Palestinian independence alongside Israel). Trump also expressed his anticipation of cooperating with the Palestinian leader to improve the economic situation of Palestinians. Donald Trump stated that he was "pleased" that Abbas promised to take "decisive steps in the fight against terrorism." The Bethlehem meeting was the second encounter between the U.S. President and the Palestinian leader in the past three weeks; their previous meeting took place at the White House. On Monday, Trump, during two meetings with the President and Prime Minister of Israel in Jerusalem, said that achieving peace between Israel and Palestinians is difficult but attainable. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have been stagnant for years. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Trump that he is ready to renew talks with the Palestinians. However, the Palestinian condition of halting Israeli construction in Palestinian territories remains unmet, and Yoav Galant, Israel's Minister of Housing, recently announced plans to build 25,000 new homes in these territories. Meanwhile, Palestinians were pleased that Trump did not mention the transfer of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem during this trip and ignored Israel's request to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. During his meetings with Israeli officials, Trump mentioned negotiations he had on Sunday in Riyadh with King Salman of Saudi Arabia and leaders of 40 Muslim countries, stating that Israeli-Palestinian peace would also make Muslim countries interested in relations with Israel. Donald Trump and Mahmoud Abbas condemned the deadly event on Monday night in Manchester, Britain, where 22 people were killed at an Ariana Grande concert. Trump's first visit to the West Bank coincided with a Palestinian strike. The general strike by Palestinians was held in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike. Hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners in Israeli jails have been on hunger strike since "Palestinian Prisoners Day" last month. Families of some of these prisoners protested on Tuesday in Bethlehem, but their protest location was not on the route of the convoy carrying the U.S. President. On Tuesday evening, June 2, after visiting the Holocaust Museum and speaking at the "Jerusalem Museum," Trump departed for the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis. The White House has chosen Saudi Arabia, Israel, Bethlehem, and the Vatican as the first destinations for Trump's foreign trip to emphasize the importance of monotheistic religions.