Rubio speaks to Jews in West Palm Beach, Florida
Rubio speaks to Jews in West Palm Beach, FloridaReuters

Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio said on Friday that he doesn't believe conditions currently exist for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Arab conflict.

"I just don't see the conditions right now for that," Rubio was quoted by Reuters as having said at a news conference with members of the Jewish community in West Palm Beach, Florida.

"Two-state solutions involves the idea that there are two parties that are willing to agree to that, and there are not," he added.

"I think Israel is willing to be incredibly accommodating and have proven their willingness to do so," Rubio continued. "The Palestinian Authority has never shown any willingness, in fact they have turned down some very generous offers in the past."

The comments follow some admissions in the West that the “two-state solution” is not viable right now. Officials in the Obama administration recently admitted this, as well as Israeli opposition leader Yitzhak Herzog and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The peace process between Israelis and Palestinian Arabs has come up in the televised debates between the Republican presidential candidates.

Rubio and Ted Cruz have both blasted Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, after he promised to be "neutral" and "unpredictable" in pressing peace talks on Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA).

In a recent debate in Houston, Texas, Rubio accused Trump of showing an "anti-Israel" stance with those comments.

Rubio argued that a deal given the current "makeup of the Palestinians is not possible," and vowed to be "on Israel's side every single day." He went on to say a "deal with terrorism" is "not a real estate deal."

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)