FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 23, 2008

LEADING PRO-ISRAEL, PRO PEACE GROUP
APPLAUDS MITCHELL APPOINTMENT
Praise for New Envoy’s ‘Even-Handedness‘ as Necessary to Revive Negotiations

CHICAGO—The country’s largest grassroots Jewish peace movement today praised the appointment of Senator George Mitchell as Special Envoy for Middle East Peace, as another sign of President Barack Obama’s seriousness of purpose in renewing U.S. leadership to achieve a negotiated, two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“Senator Mitchell’s reputation for even-handedness and determination are assets to reversing eight years of malignant diplomatic neglect by the Bush administration and reestablishing  U. S. credibility as an honest broker in the region, “ said Diane Balser, executive director of Brit Tzedek v’Shalom, the Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace.

“The appointment of an envoy as trusted as Mitchell, who has the experience of mediating the resolution what was previously believed to be another of the world’s most intransigent conflicts, should hasten a collective sigh of relief among all those of us invested in the peace and security of Israel and the region as a whole,” Balser added. 

Brit Tzedek recently sent a letter to President Obama, signed by over 1000 Jewish clergy, calling on the new president to take concrete and immediate steps to demonstrate that the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would be a top priority of his administration from day one.  Among the actions for which the letter called was a public declaration of support for the establishment of a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel, the appointment of a high level, highly regarded envoy and the establishment of mechanisms of enforcement to ensure compliance.

“With President Obama’s appearance yesterday at the State Department to affirm his commitment to a two-state solution and to appoint Mitchell, we checked two items off our list. Two out of three in just three days is not bad at all,” said Rabbi John Friedman, the chairman of Brit Tzedek’s Rabbinic Cabinet, which initiated the letter to the President.  “We are not deluded, though, as to the challenges that lie ahead, for even the most skilled of diplomats, in establishing mechanisms to ensure real compliance on both sides. Compliance has been a real stumbling block in the past.  Without these mechanisms even the best of agreements is worth no more than the paper it’s written on.”

“One does not need much of a long term memory to recall when being tagged ‘even-handed’ regarding the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was a kiss of death for a politician. But with Obama’s assertion of the centrality of diplomacy in resolving conflicts, that equation is sure to shift,” said Friedman. “Effective diplomacy hinges on the trust vested in the mediator by all parties to the conflict; this trust is essential to extracting compromises from both parties and giving each a real stake in the outcome. “

“The single most pro-Israel thing a political leader can do is not to side reflexively with Israel over the Palestinians in this matter or that, but to resolve the overarching conflict once and for all. This is the only way to ensure Israel’s long-term viability, peace and security,” added Balser.

Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, the Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace, is a national grassroots organization more than 39,000 strong that educates and mobilizes American Jews in support of a negotiated two-state resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.