President Trump asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pause the construction of Israeli settlements in the short term in preparation for a new attempt at striking a peace deal between the Palestinians and the Israelis.
“I’d like to see you hold back on settlements for a little bit,” Trump told Netanyahu on Wednesday during a joint appearance at the White House. “I’d like to see a deal be made.”
Barack Obama had aggressively pressed Israel to halt settlements, seeing them as a major impediment to peace. He allowed a resolution condemning the settlements to succeed in the United Nations.
Trump’s statement, while milder than the ones Obama used to make, suggests the new administration continues to see the settlements as a problem and wants a halt to them, at least for a time. Trump’s campaign had suggested before the election that settlements were not an impediment to peace.
Netanyahu diminished the importance of the settlements. “I believe the issue of settlements is not the core” of the problem between the Israelis and the Palestinians, Netanyahu said.
Both leaders expressed concerns on Wednesday about the nuclear agreement with Iran, which was a source of tension between Netanyahu and Trump’s predecessor.
“The security challenges faced by Israel are enormous, including the threat of Iran’s nuclear ambitions,” Trump said.
