Democrats urge Trump to maintain two-state solution

“The establishment of a Palestinian state would provide a home for millions of Palestinians," said Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Eliot Engel, and Senator Bob Menendez.

By OMRI NAHMIAS
U.S. Congressman Eliot Engel addresses the Jerusalem Post Annual Conference in New York (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
U.S. Congressman Eliot Engel addresses the Jerusalem Post Annual Conference in New York
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
WASHINGTON – On the eve of the Trump administration peace plan’s rollout, Democrats in Congress urged the president to maintain the two-state solution.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel and Senator Bob Menendez, the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, issued a statement on Monday saying that a two-state solution “cannot be born on the backs of unilateral actions from either side.”
“Israel’s security is non-negotiable,” they wrote in their statement. “Israel’s existence as a democracy in the Middle East is not the only characteristic that separates it from its neighbors.”
“Maintaining both its democratic and Jewish nature has always been supremely important,” they said. “Compromising on either would endanger the very essence of Israel. It is for this reason that we have supported a negotiated solution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict, with mutually agreed upon land swaps, resulting in two states – a democratic Jewish State of Israel, and a viable, demilitarized Palestinian state – living side-by-side in peace, security, and mutual recognition.”
“It is the long-standing policy of the United States that a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should come through direct negotiations between the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, with the support of countries in the region and around the world,” the statement reads.
“The establishment of a Palestinian state would provide a home for millions of Palestinians,” they said. “The Palestinian people deserve the right to self-determination, and the United States should support this goal.”
“A two-state solution cannot be born on the backs of unilateral actions from either side,” Menendez and Engel, both known as supporters of Israel, added in their statement. “Unilateral actions do not contribute to [a] sustainable peace and would not serve US interests. Unilateral steps would make it harder to come back to the negotiating table and could set unrealistic expectations and unachievable demands... We urge President Trump to re-commit the United States to helping the parties return to the negotiating table to find a mutually agreeable solution to this conflict. We look forward to working with the Administration to help end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and strengthen the US-Israel relationship.”
Congressman Ted Deutch, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East, issued a statement as well.
“As Chairman of the Middle East Subcommittee, I have been trying to get briefed on this plan for two years to ensure this policy would help contribute to greater peace and security,” he wrote. “As we anticipate today’s visit by Prime Minister Netanyahu and Blue and White Party Leader Benny Gantz, it is important to remember that no solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can or should be imposed. As I review the plan, the underlying question is whether the United States will be helping to foster a return to direct negotiations between the two parties or instead encouraging unilateral action by either party that could damage the prospect for peace.”
“This is not a campaign issue for America or for Israel; it is about whether the plan preserves the possibility of a two-state solution that can lead to lasting peace in the Middle East,” Deutch wrote.