U.S. Ambassador at U.N. Says Trump Supports Two-State Solution

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) —
The United Nations Security Council Chamber in New York, NY.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Thursday that the United States still supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a day after President Donald Trump suggested he is open to new ways to achieve peace.

“First of all, the two-state solution is what we support. Anybody that wants to say the United States does not support the two-state solution — that would be an error,” Haley told reporters at the United Nations.

“We absolutely support the two-state solution, but we are thinking out of the box as well: which is, what does it take to bring these two sides to the table; what do we need to have them agree on.”

“I’m looking at two states and one state, and I like the one both parties like,” Trump told a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. “I can live with either one.”

Haley also echoed Trump in her remarks on Thursday, stressing that a peace deal was not for Washington to impose but could only come from the parties themselves.

“The solution to what will bring peace in the Middle East is going to come from the Israelis and the Palestinian Authority,” Haley said. “The United States is just there to support the process.”

Haley, a Republican who previously served as South Carolina governor, also criticized the United Nations and the Security Council on Thursday for what she called a bias against Israel.

She described the day’s scheduled Security Council meeting on the Middle East as “focused on criticizing Israel, the one true democracy in the Middle East.”

Haley said the United States would not support any U.N. resolutions like the one approved by the Security Council in December calling for an end to Israeli settlement building, which passed only after the administration of former President Barack Obama chose not to wield its veto.

“I am here to say the United States will not turn a blind eye to this anymore,” Haley said. “I am here to emphasize that the United States is determined to stand up to the U.N.’s anti-Israel bias.”

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