Brit Tzedek v'Shalom

Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 24, 2006
Contact: Jessica Rosenblum, Rabinowitz-Dorf Communications, (202)265-3000

Brit Tzedek v’Shalom Responds to Israeli Prime Minister’s Washington Visit

WASHINGTON, DC – In response to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s recent visit to Washington, Diane Balser, executive director of Brit Tzedek v’Shalom, the Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace, issued the following statement today.

“We welcome President George Bush’s support yesterday for negotiations instead of unilateralism in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as his agreement with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on the need for a two-state solution, sustained humanitarian aid to the Palestinians and the endorsement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as a potential partner in reviving the peace process.

It is clear that these two practiced politicians speak the language of diplomacy well, but it is high time for constructive initiatives that will lead to the negotiated end to this bloody stalemate. The absence of substantive engagement risks the resumption of full-scale violence and an impending humanitarian crisis within the occupied territories, potentially destabilizing both Israeli and Palestinian societies and further inflaming the region.

The United States and Israel should do everything possible to strengthen the standing of President Abbas and Palestinian moderates internationally, and with the Palestinian people. Specifically, the United States should pursue a proactive policy of diplomatic engagement with President Abbas and other moderate Palestinian political figures, via both public diplomacy and back-channel discussions.

We applaud any and all Israeli withdrawals that facilitate the creation of a viable Palestinian state, but firmly believe they must be coupled with substantive negotiations even before provisional borders can be set. Unilateral initiatives that lessen or preclude the possibility of a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel will not lead to the end of the conflict and will be detrimental to both Israelis and Palestinians.

The Bush Administration must realize that the prospect of reaching a point whereupon we accept that the “exhaustion of efforts” to revive negotiations, to which Prime Minister Olmert referred, is tantamount to forsaking the vision--shared by the majority of Israelis, Palestinians and American Jews alike--of a secure Israel within internationally recognized borders and at peace with a viable Palestinian state. We believe that with concerted and creative efforts on the part of the American and Israeli administrations in coordination with moderate forces within the Palestinian Authority, a just and tenable peace is within our grasp.”

Brit Tzedek v’Shalom, the Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace, is a national grassroots movement 34,000 strong, that educates and mobilizes American Jews in support of a negotiated two-state resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.