Palestinian laborers build a subdivision in Bruchin, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank that was retroactively legalised in 2015. Credit:Tomas Munita However the latest statements from Mr Trump indicate those expectations might be overly optimistic. In the interview with Israel Hayom, a widely circulated free newspaper owned by Mr Netanyahu's patron, the Vegas casino magnate and GOP mega-donor Sheldon Adelson, Mr Trump offered new insights into his thinking on the long-running conflict between Israel and Palestinians. Mr Adelson dined at the White House on Thursday night. Mr Trump suggested that he was reviewing his campaign promise to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Israel's declared capital Jerusalem – a relocation that many Israelis, including the mayor of Jerusalem, thought was a done deal. "I'm thinking about it. I'm learning the issue and we'll see what happens," Mr Trump was quoted as saying in the interview, which was conducted in English and translated into Hebrew.

US President Donald Trump with his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who Mr Trump says will broker peace in the Middle East. Credit:Getty Images "It's not an easy decision. It's been discussed for so many years. No one wants to make this decision, and I'm thinking about it seriously." Former US diplomats, as well as Palestinians and Arab leaders such as King Abdullah II of Jordan, have warned Mr Trump the embassy move could stoke religious passions and spark violence, as Muslims rally to defend what they see as a threat against their holy places in the heart of Jerusalem. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet President Donald Trump in the White House on Wednesday. Credit:AP Mr Trump said he wanted to explore the possibilities for making what he has called "the ultimate deal," a peace pact between Israel and the Palestinians. He is deploying his son-in-law – and now senior adviser on the Middle East – Jared Kushner to the task.

Prior to his election, Mr Trump told the German newspaper Bild that Mr Kushner was a "good boy and he will agree an Israel agreement that no one else would pull off." In Friday's interview he said no deal was good unless it was good for all sides. "We are currently in a process that has been going on for a long time. Decades. A lot of people think that it can't be done. And a lot of smart people around me claim that you can't reach an agreement. I don't agree. I think we can reach an agreement and that we need to reach an agreement," he said. In Mr Netanyahu's government, his right-wing flank, including members of his own Likud party, are now pressing the prime minister to abandon his support for the two-state solution, which he professed in a speech at an Israeli university in 2009. Mr Netanyahu's tepid support for a Palestinian state has often been questioned by European leaders, as well as former secretary of state John Kerry.

Mr Netanyahu has wavered on his commitment, once promising voters there would no Palestinian state on his watch and just recently assuring his cabinet he would only support what he called a "state-minus" for the Arabs in the West Bank. In the interview, Mr Trump warned: "I want Israel to act reasonably in the peace process and that it will finally happen after so many years. And maybe there will even be a possibility of a bigger peace than just Israel and the Palestinians. I want both sides to acts reasonably and we have a good chance at that." Mr Trump appeared to be suggesting that peace talks would involve moderate Arab nations such as Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The 2002 Arab peace initiative, brokered by the Saudis, promised Israel peaceful relations and recognition in exchange for a full Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Mr Trump appeared to question Mr Netanyahu's claim that the settlements were not an obstacle to peace. The former New York real estate magnate zeroed in on a key issue: land and location. "There is limited remaining territory," Mr Trump said of the West Bank. "Every time you take land for a settlement, less territory remains. I'm not someone who believes that advancing settlements is good for peace. But we are examining a number of options."

More than 60 per cent of the West Bank is under complete Israeli military and civilian control, where even permissions for Palestinians to add a barn or work a field must be approved by the military government. The same territory is home to more than 400,000 Jewish settlers living in 125 established communities and another 100 outposts, many of them deemed illegal even under Israeli law. Mr Trump said that he had no interest in criticising Israel. Mr Netanyahu and his ministers bristled under the barrage of condemnations from Mr Obama and the State Department, which opposed settlement expansion and would issue statements each time a few hundred units were approved for construction. "Israel has a long history of condemnations and difficulties. I don't want to condemn Israel during my term," Mr Trump said. Loading

"I understand Israel very well and have a lot of appreciation for it. Israelis have gone through very difficult times. I want peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and beyond that I think peace for Israel will be great for Israel, not just good." The Washington Post