Trump comments on his call for a pardon for Netanyahu
The US president has spoken to reporters on board Air Force One about his whirlwind trip to Israel and Egypt.
He said he did not want to bring up the subject of a pardon for Netanyahu during his address at the Israeli Knesset, but was moved to do so because of the applause for the prime minister.
“I actually told him I didn’t want to bring up the pardon. But it was just a perfect spot. It was good timing. Wouldn’t you say?” Trump said, according to a video posted by the White House.
“Because he was getting a very good hand [round of applause], and when they stopped, I said, ‘Why don’t you give this guy a pardon?’ If he didn’t get a good hand, I wouldn’t have done that,” he added.
Trump acknowledged that the move was a “little risque” and that “it’s a pretty sore subject in Israel”.
Netanyahu was charged in 2019 on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. The trial, which involves three criminal cases, began in 2020, and if convicted, Netanyahu could face up to 10 years in jail as well as a fine. The Israeli prime minister denies the charges.
Trump on 2-state solution
“I think it’s a very important day, since nobody thought this was possible,” he told reporters.
“They say the Middle East blows it away. And they say, well, fighting… it’s just thousands of years. Nothing’s been done. It’s a whole thing with the Arabs, Jewish people. It’s just never been done, and there’s a certain mystery to the Middle East.”
When asked about his Egyptian President el-Sisi’s call for a two-state solution, Trump said his peace plan was about something very different – “rebuilding Gaza”.
“A lot of people like the one-state solution; a lot of people like the two-state solution… I haven’t commented on that. At some point, I’ll decide what I think is right, but it’d be in coordination with other states and other countries,” he added.
Trump was also asked how confident he was about phase two of the deal for Gaza.
“You know, we have a lot of power,” he responded.
“Those are, you know ,really seriously rich countries and, uh, they can handle it,” he added, an apparent reference to the nations that sent leaders to the summit.
Yeah don't count on Trump to get to a Palestinian state.
Trump implies questions on Gaza’s long-term future can wait
Trump is not getting into any real commitments on what happens down the road. If anything, this ceasefire is simply bringing the region back to what the situation was a little more than two years ago.
Questions persist about whether the current Israeli government and the split Palestinian leadership – the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank and Hamas in Gaza – could ever get to the point where there would be peace negotiations that would establish two separate states: One Israeli, one Palestinian.
If anything, Trump was underscoring during his conversation with reporters that the first step has just been taken. They now need to focus on trying to rebuild Gaza, get people back into their homes.
These kinds of other questions can be dealt with down the road, he implied.
