The archbishop of Canterbury has said a “moment of opportunity” could be within reach in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after he met political leaders from both sides during a trip to the Holy Land.



Justin Welby held separate talks with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, in which both spoke positively about the possibility of reviving peace talks in the coming months. Abbas had just returned from meeting Donald Trump in Washington, and the US president is due to visit Jerusalem soon.



Later, when meeting the Israeli president, Reuven Rivlin, Welby said: “It does seem, listening to many, that internationally perhaps the planets are aligning. Perhaps a moment of opportunity is coming that may not repeat itself for a while. As a Christian, as a religious leader, my hope and prayer is that we can find a way within the region of confidence being rebuilt.”



He added: “There cannot be peace without every person in the region – Israeli, Israeli-Jewish, Israeli-Arab, Palestinian, all of them – being sure they can pursue their lives, pursue their aims, without fearing the bomb or the bullet, without fearing persecution.”



Referring to Trump’s imminent visit, he said: “There are many surprises in this world at the moment. Perhaps there might be a surprise that would be of unqualified joy to the whole world, that would unravel so many issues, if there could be progress in dealing with the tragedy that has been here for so long.”



The archbishop spoke to Netanyahu for about an hour in his Jerusalem office, and with Abbas for a similar time at the Muqata, the presidential compound in Ramallah.



Welby discussed the plight of Christians with the Israeli leader, hours after meeting Christian families in Bethlehem and Beit Jala whose lives had been adversely affected by the separation wall built by Israel, much of which runs inside the West Bank. They also spoke about antisemitism.



With Abbas, the archbishop raised the dangers of extremism and the difficulties faced by the dwindling number of Palestinian Christian, now less than 2% of the population.



At his meeting with Rivlin, Welby spoke of “an element of unfinished business” in the Balfour declaration, the centenary of which falls this year. In the declaration, the British government committed itself to the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine, “it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country”.

Rivlin reiterated his invitation to the Queen to visit Israel to mark the centenary. Although a royal visit to Israel has been mooted, it has not been confirmed.



Later Welby visited the site on the river Jordan where Jesus was believed to have been baptised. There, he met representatives of the Halo Trust, which is planning to clear thousands of landmines dating back to the 1967 six-day war.



Welby has donated an undisclosed sum of money to the charity, which needs to raise $1.5m to make safe access to ancient churches and monasteries at the site.

He said the trust’s work was inspiring: “I see them using weapons of war to bring hope of peace.”

