WASHINGTON (JTA) — Eighteen Senate Democrats warned Israel that moving ahead with annexing parts of the West Bank would “fray” bonds with the United States.
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The letter released Thursday is addressed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz, the prime minister-designate.
“We write to express our grave concern with provisions in the recently concluded government agreement to consider unilateral annexation of Palestinian territory as early as this July,” the letter said. “As friends and supporters of Israel, we caution you against taking unilateral steps that would fray our unique bonds, imperil Israel’s future and place out of reach the prospect of a lasting peace.”
Two of the signatories, Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, are Jewish.
Sens. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Tim Kaine of Virginia initiated the letter.
Netanyahu has said he would like to launch annexation of some parts of the West Bank by July 1. He has since tamped down those expectations by saying he will abide by the peace plan released in January by President Donald Trump, which requires Palestinian agreement to a deal as long as the Palestinians join the talks within four years. The Palestinians have shown no inclination to do so.
The letter was toned down from an earlier version, according to Jewish Insider, because senators were reluctant to sign on to tough language, including that the signatories “would sadly conclude that Israel no longer values the bipartisan support that Congress has provided it for decades.” Even so, it accumulated fewer than half of the Democratic caucus.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who is Jewish, sent a separate letter this week cautioning Israel that annexation would harm its security, but did not warn of any fraying of ties with the United States.
where were you when Jordan annexed the whole valley to their state?
Yawn. Meaningless nonsense from people who want to continue living in the swamp
Democrats the party that supports anti Israel Jew haters.
Just as long as all those new Israelis get the vote and new passports there can be no complaint. Annex the whole thing.
J Street criminal jews are pouring money into DemonRat coffers to influence them on Israel. This Soros funded
mob has admitted as much.
We are own worst enemies. J street does not care about peace, but want Israel destroyed. This is their insane mission.
If you say Israel is annexing Palestinian territory, then you already are not a friend of Israel. It’s not Palestinian territory, it never was Palestinian territory, and they never were any Palestinians to begin with. It’s a figment of the press’ imagination from the get go and these senators are left-wing hacks who don’t do good for their own country and certainly don’t do good for Israel.
I’d just like to see a cost-benefit analysis to the annexation (in terms of lives, security, etc.). I consider the land to be morally ours, I just don’t know if this is overall wise. Netanyahu has been around a long time. Why is he doing this now? What makes now a better time than before? I’m not against it per se, I just don’t know if there is a gain.
This Schatz guy was a former Green Party member and a J Streeter so no surprise that he signed on. Hawaii is Democrat so he’s probably going to be in the Senate for a while.
Feinstein,while married to a Jew, is herself NOT Jewish!
I’m sure this was done based on the advice of the Satmar Rebbe. He’s so poweful he controls American Foreign policy.