Donald Trump says he has 'maybe the best shot' at Israeli-Palestinian peace

It will be the 'toughest deal of all', US President says

President Donald Trump meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Palace Hotel during the United Nations General Assembly, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Donald Trump believes he has “maybe the best shot” at achieving peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Speaking at the outset of a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Mr Trump’s displayed some of his customary swagger in asserting he had a strong chance of solving one of the world’s most intractable conflicts.

Framing diplomatic negotiations in business terms, Mr Trump said peace would be the “toughest deal of all” - he has formerly referred to it as the “ultimate deal” - but nevertheless projected confidence.

“We are looking seriously at peace and maybe ultimately peace for the whole of the Middle East and I think we have a pretty good shot, maybe the best shot ever,” the president said. “It's a complex subject, always been considered the toughest deal of all: peace between Israel and the Palestinians, the toughest of all,” Mr Trump added. “I think we have a very, very good chance”.

If he does achieve a breakthrough, Mr Trump will succeed where a long line of successors have failed. There have been few concrete signs of progress since Mr Trump had dispatched his son-in-law Jared Kushner to conduct negotiations.

On other issues, Mr Trump’s confident declarations have run up against the complexity of the task at hand.

As Republicans struggled to uproot a much-reviled federal healthcare law, Mr Trump mused that “nobody knew health care could be so complicated” - a claim that baffled some healthcare policy experts and elected officials.