Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
News

Trump Won’t Take Position on Two-State Solution, Says Aide

Jason Greenblatt, Donald Trump’s adviser on Israel, who recently increased his role and serves as the campaign’s de-facto liaison to the Jewish community, worked the crowd and the media in Cleveland, making the case for Trump on issues relating to his views on Israel.

In an interview with Israel’s Channel 1 TV, which aired Thursday, Greenblatt explained the candidate’s views on the Israeli – Palestinian conflict, stressing Trump’s non-committal approach to the idea of establishing an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.

“He doesn’t want to take a position on it right now, simply because if that doesn’t work for the Israelis and the Palestinians, there’s no point in trying to impose a two-state solution if it’s going to break apart” Greenblatt said. “His view is that the two sides need to get together, figure it out, and he’ll be there to help them achieve the goal, but to try to impose a two-state solution if it isn’t going to work or if it isn’t going to last, doesn’t make sense.”

This position is reflected in the new Republican Party’s platform, formulated with the assistance of Trump’s advisers, which dropped any mention of a two-state solution.

Greenblatt, giving a more generous assessment of the Obama administration’s approach to Israel than his boss, said Obama was “somewhat anti-Israel —-somewhat supportive and somewhat anti-Israel.” He also noted that Trump will support any elected government in Israel and will consult with all sides. “It’s not for him to decide what’s good for Israel,” Greenblatt said. This position seems to run counter to that of Trump’s major supporter, mega donor Sheldon Adelson, who is aligned with the Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu. Adelson is being courted by the Trump campaign, which is hoping the Las Vegas billionaire lives up to his pledge to donate up to $100 million.

Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.