President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held their first joint press conference today,in which they discussed a wide range of issues.
Some of the issues that they discussed in this press conference include U.S.-Israel relations, settlements and the Islamic terror threat.
Netanyahu commented on the state of the middle east by saying that “The Palestinians not only deny the past,they also poison the present.”
“The Palestinians not only deny the past, they also poison the present.” – @Netanyahu on recognizing the Jewish State and peace pic.twitter.com/ckkJXWd7UZ
— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 15, 2017
Trump to kicked off the press conference by commenting on the “unbreakable bond” with Israel and the U.S.
However Trump did ask Netanyahu do slow down on the settlements for a while. To which Netanyahu replied by saying “We’ll try,”.
When asked about how both leaders intend on reaching middle east peace Trump said.
“I’m very happy with the one that both parties like. I can live with either one,” Trump continued. “I thought for a while the two-state looked like it may be the easier of the two, but honestly if Bibi and if the Palestinians — if Israel and the Palestinians are happy, I’m happy with the one they like the best.”
Netanyahu then responded to this by saying.
“First, the Palestinians must recognize the Jewish state. They have to stop calling for Israel’s destruction,”.
Secondly, he added, “in any peace agreement, Israel must retain the overriding security control over the entire area west of the Jordan River.”
Watch the full press conference down below
Throughout his 2016 campaign, Trump pledged to strengthen the U.S. Relationship with Israel and blasted President Barack Obama for his icy relationship with Netanyahu.
Trump pledged to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem,the disputed holy city that both Palestinians and Israelis lay claim to. Moving the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would anger both Palestinians and Arab nations in what would be one of the strongest displays of U.S. Support for Israel in recent times.
Some political commentators responded on twitter to this press conference and Trump and Netanyahu’s relationship.
These are all of the gifts Netanyahu's team brought to Trump's team going through security now: pic.twitter.com/GtkeelblvX
— Erin McPike (@ErinMcPike) February 15, 2017
Clearly a new dawn for US-Israel relations. Very warm friendship between @realDonaldTrump and Netanyahu @POTUS pic.twitter.com/9ywappSxJD
— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) February 15, 2017
I'm getting the impression that Netanyahu likes Trump better than he liked Obama
— HowardKurtz (@HowardKurtz) February 15, 2017