Israeli minister: Trump election is time to ‘reset’ policies

Jerusalem: A senior Israeli Cabinet minister says Donald Trump’s election could present an opportunity for Israel to abandon its stated commitment to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The remarks by Naftali Bennett today reflect sentiment in the nationalist Israeli right wing that Trump’s presidency could usher in a new era of relations with the US.

While the two countries are close allies, relations were sometimes tense between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu because of their vastly different world views.

For two decades, the international community has been pushing for a negotiated peace deal for a Palestinian state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip — areas captured by Israel in the 1967 war.

Bennett said such a state would be “a profound mistake.

PTI