Obama believes Israel-Palestine peace deal not possible before he leaves office

Barack Obama has made a “realistic assessment” that finding a peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians will not be possible before his term in office ends at the beginning of 2017, US officials have said.

The American officials told reporters about the president’s assessment prior to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming visit to the White House on Monday.

Netanyahu’s visit will mark the first time the two men have met since the US struck a deal with Iran over their nuclear programme – a deal angrily opposed by Netanyahu.

The Israeli leader tried to get Republicans in Congress to oppose the nuclear deal being implemented, but has so far failed.

Iran will likely be a discussion point for the two men on Monday, however, they will also hold talks on a wave of violence across Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, which has led some to declare the beginning of a third Palestinian intifada, or uprising.

The US officials told reporters that Obama and Netanyahu will discuss how to try and end the violence without a peace agreement in sight.

Officials said the Obama is still committed to a two-state solution but that he doesn’t believe it is possible to achieve this before he leaves office in January 2017.