A senior White House official declared on Tuesday night that the United States would no longer insist on a “two-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian Authority (PA) conflict.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the United States would not seek to dictate the terms of any eventual peace settlement, but would support what the two sides agree to together.
"A two-state solution that doesn't bring peace is not a goal that anybody wants to achieve," the official said, according to the AFP news agency.
"Peace is the goal, whether that comes in the form of a two-state solution if that's what the parties want, or something else if that's what the parties want."
"That's going to be up to them, we are not going to dictate what the terms of peace are going to be," said the official, according to AFP.
The comments mark a change of direction from that of previous administrations which insisted that the “two-state solution” is the best way to resolve the conflict.
They are in line with a report on Channel 10 News on Monday, which said that Trump will not use the term “two states” during his meeting with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu this Wednesday.
The report cited sources who said that Trump wants to be the President who achieves peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors. The sources also stated that Trump would not pressure Netanyahu regarding construction in Judea and Samaria.
Since assuming office last month, Trump has sought to show that the United States is an unwavering ally of Israel, trying to draw a contrast with former President Barack Obama, who pressured Netanyahu to freeze construction in Judea and Samaria and warned that the communities there threaten the two-state solution.
The White House official spoke as Netanyahu was meeting with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson at the State Department on Tuesday night.