‘J Street’ lobbyists demand two-state solution for Israel and Palestine

World Today

Hundreds of Jewish-American activists were on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, members of the pro-peace lobbying group, J Street.

These lobbyists were urging U.S. lawmakers to push for a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. This came just two weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump met Israel’s prime minister Bejamin Netanyahu in Washington. Trump has promised his support for the Jewish state.

CGTN’S Roee Ruttenberg reports.

J Street is a liberal, American lobbying group that is both pro-Israel  and pro-peace. The group urged lawmakers to reject President Trump’s nominee for U.S. Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman.

Friedman is a bankruptcy lawyer with close ties to the Israeli right-wing settlers movement. J Street has said he is an obstacle to a two-state solution.

“We are worried that the confirmation of David Friedman would send a signal that the Trump administration intends to pursue an extreme course when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in that abandons traditional bipartisan support for a two-state solution, that in many ways enables the settlement movement, and that only exacerbates conflict in the region rather than solving it,” Logan Bayroff of J Street said.

Earlier this month, Trump hosted the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump strayed from what had been longstanding White House policy.

“I’m looking at two-state and one-state, and I like the one that both parties like, I can live with either one,” President Trump said.

“The casual manner in which President Trump appears to have abandoned the two-state policy was extremely concerning,’ U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders responded. “Also, [it is] unfortunately typical of the carelessness with which he has managed American foreign-policy thus far.” 

 

 

Palestinian officials in Washington have said that so far, Trump’s administration has not approached them or consulted with them. The silence may speak volumes on the direction his administration will be taking on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.