CAIRO // The leaders of Egypt and Jordan reaffirmed their continued support on Tuesday for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after Donald Trump suggested abandoning it.
Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah discussed the issue and coordination of their positions on the Middle East peace process at a meeting in Cairo, a statement from Mr El Sisi’s office said.
Mr Trump suggested at a White House meeting with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week that he was open to new ways to achieve peace that did not necessarily entail the creation of a Palestinian state, a benchmark of US policy for decades.
Most Arab countries call for a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders before Israel seized the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza. Mr Netanyahu has described the 1967 lines as indefensible and has said Israel would never return to them.
Israel’s construction of vast settlements, illegal under international law, on occupied land is seen by many as the biggest barrier to a Palestinian state.
“The two sides discussed future movements to break gridlock within the Middle East peace process, especially with US President Donald Trump’s administration taking power,” Mr El Sisi’s office said.
“They also discussed mutual coordination to reach a two-state solution and establish a Palestinian state based on the June 4, 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as a capital, which is a national constant that cannot be given up.”
The meeting took place two days after reports that the two men secretly met with Mr Netanyahu last year in a failed attempt by the Obama administration to convene a wider regional summit on Israeli-Palestinian peace.
Meanwhile Iran’s supreme leader on Tuesday used the podium of a pro-Palestinian gathering in Tehran to lash out at Israel, calling the Jewish state a “fake” nation in a “dirty chapter” of history.
The remarks by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were some of his most vitriolic against Israel, Iran’s archenemy. Every four years since the early 1990s, Tehran has hosted a similar conference in support of the Palestinian cause, assembling foreign guests and those who oppose Israel.
Speaking to the gathering, Ayatollah Khamenei said Israel was created by bringing Jews from other parts of the world to the region to settle in the land of the Palestinians to replace its “true entity.”
The supreme leader also urged all Muslims to support the Palestinians and “resistance” movements — a reference to anti-Israeli militant groups such as Hamas and Hizbollah militants. Iran has always been their staunch ally.
Some 80 delegations, mainly from Islamic countries as well as pro-Palestinian activists, attended the two-day meeting.
*Reuters and Associated Press