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On Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced a radical departure
from long-standing, bipartisan American foreign policy: In defiance of the
entire international community, the United States would no longer consider
West Bank settlements illegal.

J Street was one of the first groups to condemn this destructive decision,
which we called out for being clearly designed to hand a major political
gift to Prime Minister Netanyahu and a boost to the settlement movement’s
hopes of West Bank annexation. In just under 48 hours, we’ve seen a wave
of presidential candidates, members of Congress, foreign policy experts
and American Jewish organizations join us in denouncing this move by the
administration and in affirming the illegality of the settlements.

While Trump, Pompeo and Ambassador Friedman work to shatter US credibility
and exacerbate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it's important that so
many American leaders are loudly and clearly pushing back.

Below, I’ve compiled some of these statements to show you just how broad
the resistance has been to this move. 

Here are some of the responses from presidential candidates:

* [ [link removed] ]Vice President Joe Biden: “This decision harms the cause of
diplomacy, takes us further away from the hope of a two-state
solution, and will only further inflame tensions in the region. It’s
not about peace or security. It is not about being pro-Israel. It is
about undercutting Israel’s future in service of Trump’s personal
politics.”
* [ [link removed] ]Mayor Pete Buttigieg: “The Trump administration’s statement on West
Bank settlements is not only a significant step backward in our
efforts to achieve a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict, it is the latest in a pattern of destructive decisions that
harm our national interests.”
* [ [link removed] ]Secretary Julián Castro: “These settlements are a clear violation
of international law and push us further away from a two-state
solution. This is a grave error that severely damages the prospects
for peace, further isolates America, & undermines our moral
leadership.”
* [ [link removed] ]Sen. Amy Klobuchar: “The Trump administration’s announcement on
Israeli settlements goes against long-standing U.S. policy. Once again
Donald Trump is playing politics and taking us further away from a
path to a two-state solution.”
* [ [link removed] ]Sen. Bernie Sanders: “Israeli settlements in occupied territory are
illegal. This is clear from international law and multiple United
Nations resolutions. Once again, Mr. Trump is isolating the United
States and undermining diplomacy by pandering to his extremist base.”
* [ [link removed] ]Sen. Elizabeth Warren: “Another blatantly ideological attempt by
the Trump administration to distract from its failures in the region.
Not only do these settlements violate international law—they make
peace harder to achieve. As president, I will reverse this policy and
pursue a two state solution.”

We’ve also seen statements from numerous members of Congress, including
this joint statement from [ [link removed] ]Reps. David Price, Jan Schakowsky, John
Yarmuth, Gerry Connolly, Barbara Lee, Peter Welch, Alan Lowenthal, Lloyd
Doggett and Earl Blumenauer.

[ [link removed] ]You can read our full roundup of statements here.

Thank you,

Dylan Williams
J Street Senior Vice President of Government Affairs


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J Street is the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans who want
Israel to be secure, democratic and the national home of the Jewish people.
Working in American politics and the Jewish community, we advocate policies that
advance shared US and Israeli interests as well as Jewish and democratic values,
leading to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.



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