WASHINGTON - US President Joe Biden and Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s statement that the two-state solution “is the right thing” for Israel.
In a tweet, Biden wrote: “I welcome Israeli Prime Minister Lapid's courageous statement at the UN General Assembly: ‘An agreement with the Palestinians, based on two states for two peoples, is the right thing for Israel’s security, for Israel’s economy, and for the future of our children.’”
“I could not agree more,” Biden added.
Trudeau tweeted that a two-state solution “with Israelis and Palestinians living in peace, security, and dignity – is in everyone’s best interest.”
“Canada is supportive of Prime Minister Lapid’s speech today, and we will continue to promote lasting peace and security in the region,” Trudeau wrote.
In his address to the UN General Assembly, Lapid said that “despite all the obstacles, still today a large majority of Israelis support the vision of this two-state solution.”A two-state solution – with Israelis and Palestinians living in peace, security, and dignity – is in everyone’s best interest. Canada is supportive of Prime Minister @YairLapid’s speech today, and we will continue to promote lasting peace and security in the region.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) September 22, 2022
“We have only one condition: That a future Palestinian state will be a peaceful one,” he said. “That it will not become another terror base from which to threaten the well-being, and the very existence of Israel.
That we will have the ability to protect the security of all the citizens of Israel, at all times.”
Reactions to Lapid's UN address
Several Jewish organizations released statements in response to Lapid’s speech. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) tweeted that “Lapid reinforced Israel's enduring commitment to peace with the Palestinians in an agreement based on two states for two peoples so long as a future Palestinian state will be a peaceful one.”
“Israel cannot allow a new terrorist base from which its very existence is threatened,” AIPAC tweeted.
The World Jewish Congress also reacted to the speech, tweeting that “if one thing is clear from Lapid’s address to the UN, progress demands engagement, cultural exchange, and understanding.”
“This is the path forward towards a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians,” the World Jewish Congress tweeted.
The American Jewish Committee (AJC) noted that the organizations’ longstanding policy “is that a durable two-state solution is the only realistic resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and, if it is to be achieved, must be established through direct bilateral negotiations between the parties themselves.”
“The United States and the Arab countries at peace with Israel can all play a helpful role in the process, particularly in persuading Palestinian leaders to end their decades-long rejection of every deal put on the table and beginning to negotiate earnestly and realistically,” AJC wrote. “The goal should be two states living side by side in peace and security, as part of a widening circle of cooperation and coexistence in the region."
The Israel Policy Forum released a statement saying that the organization “applaud” Lapid for “unambiguous commitment to two states, as he laid out today at the UN”
“As the leaders of the US and Israel both recognize, a two-state outcome is necessary to keep Israel Jewish and democratic and to fulfill Palestinians’ aspirations,” the organization said in a statement.