Israeli defence chief shrugs off Trump’s remark on 2 states

JERUSALEM – Israel’s defence minister has expressed indifference to President Donald Trump’s backing of a two-state solution for the Israeli Palestinian conflict.

Avigdor Lieberman says a Palestinian state “simply doesn’t interest me.” He says the Israeli interest is “a safe Jewish state.”

He says: “Everything else interests us less.”

Trump at the United Nations on Wednesday for the first time said publicly that he believes two states — one for Israel and one for the Palestinians — “works best.”

Trump has previously been vague, suggesting he’d support whatever the parties agree to, including possibly a one-state solution.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has in the past reluctantly accepted the concept of Palestinian statehood but has since backtracked. A top coalition partner is threatening to topple his government if it returns to the agenda.