A coalition of US Jewish organizations sent a letter to leaders of Israeli political parties, warning them against full or partial annexation of occupied West Bank, Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Thursday.
Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, pledged on September 17 this year to annex Jordan Valley, which makes up 30 percent of the West Bank area, if he is to be re-elected.
As the letter notes, the organizations of the Progressive Israel Network are the real reps of majority Jewish-American public opinion when it comes to the issue of Israel-Palestine. https://t.co/qq23RsaziN
— Ron Skolnik (@Ron_Skolnik) November 8, 2019
According to liberal advocacy group J Street’s president, Jeremy Ben-Ami, “carrying out unilateral annexations in the West Bank would ultimately destroy Israeli democracy and lead the country down a disastrous path to permanent conflict.”
The letter stated that if the US president, Donald Trump, and his administration were to endorse the annexation, Israel should not take this as a sign of long-term American policy.
The US Jewish groups warned:
“Simply put, the approach of this president does not represent the long-term interests and likely future policy of the United States”.
Read our joint statement with 13 American Jewish organizations calling on the leaders of Israeli political parties to stop unilateral annexation of the West Bank.https://t.co/RK3b6wI2nU pic.twitter.com/68iE6EXHD6
— J Street (@jstreetdotorg) November 6, 2019
In March 2019, the US ignored a decades-long international consensus and recognized Israel’s annexation of the occupied Golan Heights.
Netanyahu's West Bank Annexation Move Illegal, European States Say
Five major European powers said annexing the Jordan Valley, northern Dead Sea would be in "serious breach of international law" #BDS #ICC4Israel #ApartheidIsrael #GreatReturnMarchhttps://t.co/y3NeYmo99l
— Johann Spischak (@SDGMasterglass) September 14, 2019
The coalition stressed that the annexation could run harm Israel’s relations with the US Jews because the “vast majority of American Jews support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
Up to 13 groups signed the letter, including ten members of the Progressive Israel Network – an umbrella coalition that includes J Street and the New Israel Fund.
(Middle East Monitor, PC, Social Media)
