US President Donald Trump said Saturday that if an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal cannot be reached under his presidency then there will never be any such agreement.
"With me being president, if you don't get that deal done it will never happen," Trump told reporters during a press conference at the conclusion of the G20 summit in Japan, adding that there is a "very good chance" his proposal for solving the decades-long conflict could succeed.
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The Trump administration earlier this week rolled out the economic aspects of its long-awaited peace initiative during a two-day conference in Bahrain.
The plan aims to raise more than $50 billion for the Palestinians and their Arab neighbors and double the Palestinian GDP within a decade through fresh investments in infrastructure, job creation, and tourism.
But it has so far received a lukewarm reception, with critics noting that the business-minded approach leaves lingering questions about the resolution of sensitive political issues related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Palestinians have rejected US-led peace efforts altogether, dismissing the Trump administration as an unfair mediator that is blatantly biased toward Israel.
"I know [the Palestinians] want to make a deal, but they want to be a little bit cute and that's okay," Trump said. "I fully understand where they're coming from."
Under Trump's leadership, the US has made a number of pro-Israel policy decisions including recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel as well as Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
Regarding his decision to cut US aid to the Palestinians, Trump said it was because they said "nasty things" about him, without specifying.
"I ended that money because a year ago I heard they were saying nasty things and I said, 'Wait a minute, we're trying to make a deal, we're trying to help them and they're saying these nasty things, we're not gonna pay,'" he said.
"If you're not negotiating and don't want to help make peace, we're not gonna pay you. So let's see what happens," he added.
Despite the Palestinians' rejection of his peace efforts, Trump was optimistic that there is a "very good chance" of reaching an agreement, which he said, "may very well be the toughest deal of all."
"A lot of people think it can't be made," he said.
Trump said Saturday that if the Palestinians came to the negotiating table and make a deal, Washington would resume its funding "on a humanitarian basis."
This article was originally published by i24NEWS
