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Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/15/world/middleeast/benjamin-netanyahu-israel-trump.html
Trump, Meeting with Netanyahu, Backs Away from Palestinian State
(New York Times) Peter Baker and Mark Landler - President Trump jettisoned two decades of diplomatic orthodoxy on Wednesday by declaring that the U.S. would no longer insist on the creation of a Palestinian state as part of a peace accord between Israel and the Palestinians. Hosting Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel for the first time since becoming president, Trump said he was flexible about how an agreement would look and that he would not be bound by past assumptions. "I'm looking at two-state and one-state" formulations. "I like the one that both parties like. I'm very happy with the one that both parties like. I can live with either one." Momentum for side-by-side states had faded not just in Washington but also in the Middle East, where many Israelis and Palestinians have given up hope or changed their minds about the concept. Netanyahu repeated his two prerequisites: that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state and that Israel maintain security control over the entire West Bank. He said the obstacle to peace was Palestinian hatred, demonstrated by the payment of salaries to the families of those who carry out terrorist attacks.