US House of Representatives Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who led a delegation of 31 Republicans to Israel this week, echoed such realism, telling Jewish News Syndicate that he believes it's not his job to "pick a solution for the conflict."

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"The world is constantly changing. Look at Lebanon. Look at Syria. Things are always in flux in these areas, so how can we choose a solution now without knowing what's going to happen in a few years?" he posed.

McCarthy's comments come amid a larger push to re-evaluate the long-standing policy of a two-state solution. The Trump administration, which has not yet unveiled its own peace plan, has broken with the consensus and so far has not endorsed a two-state solution. This past week also saw 21 right-wing Israeli Knesset members, including two deputy ministers, tell Congress that they view the establishment of a Palestinian state as "far more dangerous to Israel than BDS."

McCarthy pointed to the 2005 disengagement from Gaza as an example of how solutions that look promising at one moment can turn dangerous very quickly.

"The idea looked good at the time, but then Hamas took over, and now we have missiles falling in Israel," he said. "I would not tell Israel, 'Here is the solution,' but would rather give Israel whatever it needs for its security."

Other Republicans in the delegation echoed the minority leader's stance.

Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wisc.) said that "all we should do is help Israel negotiate from a position of strength."

Similarly, Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-Va.), who has a background in air force intelligence, said "it's up to Israel and [the Palestinians] to find the solutions to the conflict. The United States must step back and simply support Israel's right to exist and to secure itself."

He continued, by saying "there is no easy fix" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and asked rhetorically, "Who am I to tell Israel what to do?"

Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) said the issues of the conflict run deeper than just borders.

"I would never suggest dividing Chicago to end the troubles stemming from cultural differences and economic disparities in different parts of the city," he said. "No matter where you draw the map, someone will be ticked off."

Issues related to the land and the conflict, he said, run deeper than anything that can be solved "in a political solution drawn up in a map room."

'There is no trust between the two sides'

Not all Republican members of the delegation are ready to give up on a two-state solution.

Rep. William Timmons (R-SC) said the situation in Gaza is preventing progress on a two-state solution and not enabling negotiations to move forward.

He explained that while he was disappointed that Abbas did not agree to meet with the Republican delegation, after meeting with PA Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh, he supports President's Trump effort to reach the ultimate deal.

"We are most certainly further away from resolving the conflict than ever before, and there is no trust between the two sides," said Timmons. "But it is still a worthy effort."

Similarly, Ron Estes (R-Kan.) related to JNS that the Palestinian leadership the delegation met with in Ramallah seems to "adamantly want peace," and he believes that the two-state plan "is the correct one."

Estes acknowledged that "there are thousands of years of complicated history that needs to be sorted through," and that it "will take time."

Israel also hosted a Democratic delegation of 41 congressional members, led by US House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), which arrived on Aug. 9, which overlapped earlier this week for a couple of days with the Republican contingent, bringing nearly 16% of the House together in Israel this summer.

For their part, Democratic lawmakers have been divided on a resolution in the House to reaffirm a two-state solution.

Despite the bipartisan support for Israel expressed by this symbolic act, there does seem to be growing disparity between the parties regarding the best way for the United States to approach the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While the Democrats staunchly support the two-state solution, it is now clear that many in the Republican Party, including its leadership, are beginning to question the relevance of that plan.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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The Jewish community in the United States and Israelis by and large treated Haley as the superstar of the Trump administration because she relentlessly took the UN to task and put a mirror in front of the international organization, revealing just how biased it was toward Israel.

Now, as a private citizen, she takes pains to assure Israelis they have nothing to fear regarding the administration's peace efforts, just weeks before the rollout of the economic component of its peace plan. She says President Donald Trump's peace team considers Israel's security paramount.

Haley sat down for an interview with Israel Hayom Editor-in-Chief Boaz Bismuth on Thursday in New York. The following are excerpts from the interview. The full version will be published on Friday.

Q: Later this month, the administration will roll out the economic component of its peace plan. Some in Israel are worried that the US would want something from Israel in return for recognizing Jerusalem as its capital and recognizing its sovereignty over the Golan Heights. Should Israel be worried about the plan? 

"Israel should not be worried. Because through the Middle East plan, one of the main goals that [Senior Adviser to the President] Jared Kushner and [US Special Representative for International Negotiations] Jason Greenblatt focused on was to not hurt the national security interests of Israel. They understand the importance of security, they understand the importance of keeping Israel safe. I think everybody needs to go into it with an open mind, everybody should want a peace plan. Everybody should want to make way for a better situation in Israel and I think it can happen. So rather than pushing back against what we don't know, I hope everybody would lean in on what the possibilities of what the peace plan could look like and think of a better life for everyone."

Knowing the two sides and all the actors in the Middle East, does it have a chance? 

"I am an optimist. It's not going to be easy. Both sides won't love it. And both sides won't hate it. But both sides have to want peace. And if they do, they will be deciding the details. Not the US. And I think it is worth taking that chance. It is worth trying for. At this point, it is hard to see an opportunity in which Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is even going to come to the table, and I think that … it shows Abbas' true colors. It shows the Arab community's true colors, that they [the Arab states] don't really care about the Palestinians, because if the Palestinians were that much of a priority, everybody would be holding Abbas' hand and leading him to the table. Everybody and Abbas himself would want better."

Are you familiar with some of the details of the peace plan? 

"I have read the plan, yes."

So you shared your opinion and advice on it? 

"I read the plan and think it is very thoughtful, and very well done and it very much takes into account both sides' vulnerabilities and both sides' wants."

How is life outside the United Nations? 

"It is nice to be a private citizen for the first time in eight years. That has been really nice, to bring the stress level down. But the issue I care about didn't go away, and the issues that I fought for are still very strong."

Is the UN an important institution? 

"I think the question is, does the UN want to be an important institution. Right now it is very wasteful and very bureaucratic, it can be strongly anti-US and clearly anti-Israel. So what I said to the secretary general and what I said to the ambassadors when I left, was, 'The sustainability of the UN depends on those elements.' If they change with the times, the UN will be relevant. If they start talking about things that are uncomfortable, to talk instead of the decades-old problems that we have always talked about, they can possibly move, but if they continue going down the path they are on, it's very hard to see how they'll continue with effect."

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In her out-of-the-blue announcement on Tuesday, Haley, 46, pointedly tried to shut down talk that she would run for any office in 2020, including challenging Trump in his re-election bid.

But that hardly stopped Washington from playing a new round in its favorite parlor game: Who's running for what? President, vice president and U.S. senator were all on the table.

Those who know Haley from her days as the popular governor of South Carolina believe she is in an enviable position.

"What she's done as U.N, ambassador has not only raised her own profile, which was already high, but she also raised the profile of the job and she's left some big shoes to fill," said Rob Godfrey, a former political aide in South Carolina.

Haley has received high marks for her U.N. job performance. An April poll by Quinnipiac University found that 63% of voters approved of Haley, including 55% of Democrats.

Haley was vague about her reasons for quitting, citing a desire to take some time off. In her resignation letter, Haley referred to returning to the private sector.

Few people who have watched her over the years see her leaving the public arena for long.

"The most likely explanation is she wants to put some daylight between herself and Trump in advance of running for president," said Jordan Ragusa, a political science professor at the College of Charleston in South Carolina.

Haley, who had scant experience in diplomacy before taking the U.N. job, now emerges as a dream candidate, one who figured out how to work with the voluble Trump without upstaging him, but would also buck her boss on issues that mattered to her.

She applauded women who come forward with accusations of sexual misconduct by men and said they should be heard, even if they were accusing Trump. She took a tougher stance than her boss on Russia. And in the wake violent protest by white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia, she called on her staff to oppose hate, a position viewed as a contrast to Trump's response.

Haley's departure also stoked speculation she could replace Lindsey Graham as the senator from South Carolina, a possibility that Trump played down. Talk in Washington is that should Trump replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions with Graham after the Nov. 6 congressional elections, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster would be responsible for selecting a replacement to serve until the 2020 election. McMaster was previously Haley's No. 2 in the state.

Despite the fine line Haley walked with Trump, speculation quickly swirled in Washington that Trump could drop Vice President Mike Pence as his 2020 running mate and choose Haley instead.

"Ambassador Haley has much political life ahead of her and perhaps as vice president and beyond," said Karen Floyd, a former Republican Party chairwoman in South Carolina.

Trump suffers from a massive gender gap in his approval ratings – a large majority of women disapprove of his job in office and Haley could be added in an effort to win over more women voters.

"I could certainly see a myriad of ways in which she could strengthen the ticket," said Claire Wofford, a political science professor at College of Charleston in South Carolina.

But Republican strategist Rick Tyler called the idea of Haley replacing Pence "far-fetched." Tyler said her future is wide open but doubted she would rejoin the administration.

Even Russian U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, with whom Haley often sparred, said she would resurface in politics.

"She's young, she's energetic, she's ambitious. I think that we will see her after she has this well-deserved respite that she was referring to," Nebenzia said.

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