U.S. President Donald Trump says the chemical weapons attack in Syria was “an affront to humanity” as he sat down for talks at the White House with Jordan’s King Abdullah.
When asked by reporters if the U.S. will take action, he said “you’ll see,” without elaborating. A day earlier he issued a written statement denouncing the attack as “reprehensible” and said it “cannot be ignored by the civilized world.”
Tuesday’s horrific attack in Syria, on Jordan’s doorstep, as well as the possibility of renewed Israeli Palestinian peace talks topped the agenda of talks between Trump and King Abdullah.
Jordan’s king, acting as something of an envoy from the Arab world, was carrying a message of renewed interest in a peace pact with Israel that would include Arab and Muslim nation recognition of the Jewish state in exchange for creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem.
Arab leaders renewed the offer they first made to Israel in 2002 at a summit meeting last week, but Israel has balked at withdrawing from lands it captured in 1967’s Six-Day War.
The new possibility of peace talks and creation of a Palestinian state dovetails with Trump’s announced goal of achieving a lasting Mideast accord, something that eluded U.S. presidents for decades. He has dispatched an international envoy, Jason Greenblatt, to meet with Arab and Israeli leaders on a “listening tour” in the region.
Trump has declared himself a staunch friend of Israel and already met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. The new U.S. president at first said he could envision alternatives to the two-state, Israeli-Palestinian solution long backed by other U.S. presidents. Recently, however, he seems to have taken more measured steps in the region, seeking a slowdown in creation of more Israeli settlements in the occupied territories and holding off on a promise to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
There have been no substantial Israeli-Palestinian peace talks since Netanyahu’s 2009 election. He has not reneged on the principle of a two-state solution, but most of his Cabinet members oppose the idea.
