Friend --
For several months, the date July 1 has weighed heavily on the minds of those committed to Israeli democracy, Palestinian rights and prospects for a negotiated peace in the Middle East.
72 days ago, Prime Minister Netanyahu forged a coalition agreement that established this day as the starting point for West Bank annexation. Every day since, we’ve waged our campaign to #StopAnnexation and avert calamity.
Alongside our allies in the US, Israel and around the world, we’ve helped mobilize and amplify opposition from Jewish communal leaders, Israeli security officials, foreign policy experts and over 80% of the Democrats in Congress.
Now the day has come, without an announcement. All we’ve heard from Netanyahu are vague statements about ongoing discussions.
This, of course, is positive news. But we have to remember that July 1 is the starting line, not a deadline. Netanyahu, Ambassador David Friedman and the settlement movement will continue pushing to enact annexation in some form -- whether a ‘limited’ move of 2-3 settlement blocs or the full 30% of the West Bank threatened by Netanyahu -- before Trump leaves office.
I want to be clear that J Street is committed to opposing any form of annexation by the Israeli government absent a negotiated agreement with the Palestinians. Our position on this is firm: Annexation -- no matter how limited -- would be a violation of international law and severely damaging to Palestinian rights and US and Israeli interests.
And if such moves come to pass, we will advocate for meaningful consequences -- not mere rhetoric -- designed to pressure the Israeli government to reverse course.
For now, however, we’ve got to keep up our fight to prevent annexation from happening in the first place.
I’ve no doubt that the work we’ve done alongside our allies in Israel and across the globe to fight annexation is making a difference and has helped scuttle the maximalist annexation plan endorsed by Ambassador Friedman in January.
We can’t let up now. And -- just as important -- we can’t stop working every day until November 3 to bring a new administration into office that will firmly oppose both formal annexation and the relentless expansion of settlements which entrench the occupation as well.
Because ultimately, while stopping annexation is the most urgent matter before us, it’s only one part of our larger fight to secure Israel’s future as a democratic homeland for the Jewish people and to achieve the fundamental rights and freedoms too long denied to the Palestinian people.
Thank you for your commitment to that fight.
- Jeremy Ben-Ami
President, J Street
