Earlier this month Mr Trump, who is the first serving US president to have visited the Western Wall, said brokering peace is “maybe not as difficult as people have thought”.
Yet today he admitted that: “Making peace, however, will not be easy. We all know that. Both sides will face tough decisions. But with determination, compromise and the belief that peace is possible, Israelis and Palestinians can make a deal.”
While he acknowledged Jerusalem as a “sacred city” he made no reference to his pledge to move the US embassy to the capital city.
He said: “Conflict cannot continue forever. The only question is when nations will decide that they have had enough - enough bloodshed, enough killing.
“Change must come from within - it can only come from within.”
Mr Trump and the First Lady Melania had a send off from Mr Netanyahu and his wife Sara as they boarded Air Force One.
Mr Netanyahu tweeted a picture of the four of them, captioned: “Even stronger”.