US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman on Tuesday lauded Israel's decision to greenlight the construction of hundreds of Palestinian housing units in the West Bank's Area C and said the US administration has been encouraging Israel to improve conditions for the Palestinians in the area.
"We think it's good for Israel and good for the Palestinians. It's a matter of real significance and importance to us to improve their quality of life," he said.
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In an interview with CNN, Friedman said that the Trump administration's peace plan, dubbed the "deal of the century," seeks to expand on "Palestinian autonomy" and self-governance, but stopped short of endorsing the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Asked whether the US peace plan's political vision, which has yet to be unveiled, is based on the two-state solution, Friedman said, "We haven't used that phrase, but it's not because we are trying to drive toward a one-state solution.
"I don't think anyone responsible in Israel is pushing for a one-state solution ... I understand the concerns but I don't think there's a serious political movement for a one-state solution, and I don't think any of the acts that we've taken or that Israel's taken on the past two years is driving us to that point," he said.
"The issue we have is agreeing in advance to a state because the word state conjures up with it so many potential issues, that we think it does a disservice to us to use that phrase until we can have a complete exposition of all the rights and limitations that would go into Palestinian autonomy."
The United States, he said, "believe[s] in Palestinian autonomy, we believe in civilian self-governance, we believe that autonomy should be extended up until the point where it interferes with Israeli security and it's a very complicated needle to thread."
He said that the challenge of safeguarding Israel's security under a comprehensive peace plan was "daunting."
The Bahrain economic conference last month, where a $50 billion aid package for the Palestinian Authority was outlined, was aimed at "trying to help the Palestinians create some of the institutions necessary for statehood, because let's be clear, the last thing the world needs is a failed Palestinian state in between Jordan and Israel, and right now the Palestinian government is so weak.
"Right now so week they have no answer to Hamas, they leave that for Israel to take care of, they have no answer to IJ, they leave that for Israel to take care of, and what can't happen - the one thing that can't happen here - is that the Pl obtain independence and in short order this becomes a failed state controlled by Hamas, Hezbollah, ISIS or al-Qaida. That's an existential threat to Israel it's an existential threat to Jordan, it simply can't be. So with great sympathy for all issues ... we need to help the Palestinians create institutions for economy and self-governance."
Friedman praised former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin as a "great Israeli hero who gave his life to the cause of peace," noting that Rabin himself was reluctant to endorse Palestinian statehood.
"[…] when Yitzhak Rabin spoke to the Knesset to sell the Olso Accords, he also was unwilling to use the term Palestinian state. He preferred words like autonomy and self-governance. Because that word, I think it just creates expectations – you know, cause[s] everybody to retreat to their corners and it's not helpful."
He further downplayed his past comments on Israeli annexation of portions of the West Bank under a future accord, saying Jerusalem has not raised the issue with Washington, leaving the subject entirely "hypothetical."
"I don't know, the question was put to me hypothetically," he said, referring to his interview with the New York Times. "Israel has not presented to us any plan to maintain or annex any portion of the West Bank and we have no view on it at, all right? My view was a legal one whether Israel has the legal right, to maintain under some circumstances, some portion of the West Bank.
"The answer is yes, but it's a hypothetical question, but more importantly it's a legal question. And this is not a conflict that is going to be resolved in a court of law. It has to be resolved diplomatically. So I think much more was made of that than it really is worth."
