JTA reports:
More than 100 Democrats in the US House of Representatives
sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo,
calling on him to “immediately” reverse the decision to declare that
West Bank settlements are not illegal.
The letter, led by Rep. Andy Levin of
Michigan, was signed by 106 congressmen, including 12 committee
chairs.
“This announcement, following the administration’s decision to
move the US Embassy to Jerusalem outside of a negotiated agreement;
its closure of the Palestinian mission in Washington, DC and US
Consulate in Jerusalem; and its halting of aid Congress appropriated
to the West Bank and Gaza, has discredited the United States as an
honest broker between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, severely
damaged prospects for peace, and endangered the security of America,
Israel, and the Palestinian people,” the letter said.
...The letter is backed by the liberal Jewish organization J
Street.
In other words, 106 Democrats in Congress are on the record
opposing President Trump's pro-Israel policies, including the
President's decision to stop American taxpayer dollars from going to
Fatah and Hamas terrorists who kill innocent Americans and
Israelis.
Did your congressman sign the letter? Read
the whole thing and see the signatures
here.
CNS
News quoted RJC Executive Director Matt Brooks's
response to the Congressional letter:
Strong support for Israel has historically been bipartisan in
the House of Representatives, but after 46 percent of the Democratic
members signed the letter, Republican Jewish Coalition executive
director Matt Brooks provocatively tweeted on Sunday, “There is only 1
pro-Israel party and it’s the GOP.”
Further
reading: Douglas J. Feith has a strong defense
of the President's pro-Israel policy in National Review this
week. He writes:
It was not radical for [Secretary of State
Mike] Pompeo to revive the Reagan
policy. What was radical — and what impeded diplomatic progress — was
the Obama administration’s return to Carter’s legalistic criticism of
Israel.
...Pompeo drew the line prudently. He repudiated the
unconstructive Carter-Obama policy by rejecting the claim of
illegality. He bolstered Israel’s legitimacy. And he kept open the
issue of how the parties should divide the West Bank in a peace deal,
except to say that they should do so through mutual
agreement.
