US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman is set to travel to Washington DC this week to meet with senior White House adviser Jared Kushner and peace team colleague Avi Berkowitz on how best to move forward to advance the initial Israeli portion of President Donald Trump’s Middle East Peace Plan.
Israel plans to extend sovereignty to her Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley, in an area comprising approximately 30 percent of Area C, the area over which Israel was granted total administrative and security control in the 1993 internationally-recognized Oslo Accords.
According to Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post, Friedman and Berkowitz are to return to Israel to further discuss the details with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister / Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz as there has been some disagreement between the two Israeli leaders over where the lines of sovereignty should be drawn, according to recent coverage.
While Israel’s top leadership is hashing out their differences, House Democrats are working hard to torpedo the plan altogether. This past Friday 158 Democratic lawmakers signed a letter calling on Israel to avoid extending its own laws to her own communities, expressing “deep concern” over the plan and urging Israel’s government to “reconsider plans to do so.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) expressed their opposition to the plan in a joint statement to the Jewish Insider.
The senators said direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority remain “the only path for a durable peace,” ignoring the fact that for more than a decade, the Ramallah government has consistently refused to sit down at the table with Israel, regardless of efforts by any party toward that goal.
Instead, the senators insisted annexation “could undermine regional stability and broader US national security interests in the region,” without regard to the lack of stability when communities are not allowed to live under normal civil law.
Netanyahu has said a number of times that the move to initiate sovereignty may begin as early as July 1.
Here’s the full statement:
“As strong and dedicated supporters of the U.S.-Israel relationship, we are compelled to express opposition to the proposed unilateral annexation of territory in the West Bank.
“A sustainable peace deal that ensures the long-term security of Israel and self-determination for Palestinians must be negotiated directly between the two parties.
Real diplomacy via direct negotiations, while an arduous road, is the only path for a durable peace. For that reason it has consistently been the long-standing, bipartisan policy in Congress to oppose unilateral action by either side.
Unilateral annexation runs counter to those longstanding policies and could undermine regional stability and broader US national security interests in the region.
“We are committed to sustaining a US-Israel relationship based on shared democratic values and our important security assistance partnership. We are also committed to continuing to engage Israelis and Palestinians to find ways to live together with peace, freedom, security and dignity and achieve a two-state solution.“