Dozens of leading Jewish organizations from around the world, including the New Israel Fund, are voicing their opposition to President Trump’s annexation plan in an unprecedented joint statement. The statement is co-signed by prominent liberal Jewish organizations around the world and includes J Street, the New Israel Fund, the Progressive Israel Network, the British peace movement Yachad, and other progressive Jewish organizations from Europe, South Africa, Australia, Canada and Central America. This global coalition calls on world leaders to reject Trump’s one-sided deal, which, if carried out, would make Israel’s occupation permanent and formalize a deeply unjust status quo.
The joint statement reads:
“We are a diverse coalition of Jewish organizations and individuals from communities across the globe. We share a commitment to the Jewish values of justice and peace which can only be fulfilled through a negotiated two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians. We share a commitment to Israel’s security and prosperity which can best be fulfilled through peace agreements with its neighbors.
“For any peace plan to work it must connect with the long-term goals and aspirations of all parties to the conflict. Trump’s one-sided deal does not adequately address Palestinian aspirations for independence in a sovereign state; it gives Israel a green light for the dangerous annexation of Palestinian territory; legitimises settlements constructed in clear violation of international law; and removes the prospect for a viable, contiguous Palestinian state living in dignity alongside a secure Israel.
“We believe that this plan could only be rejected by the Palestinian leadership as it will not bring peace, nor a viable two-state solution. A peace plan in name only, it will perpetuate the occupation and doom the region to a destructive future of more bloodshed and conflict. As Diaspora Jews, we reject this deal as inconsistent not only with international law but with Jewish values, and Israel’s aspiration to be a state living in peace and respect with its neighbours.
“We call on Jews across the world and international leaders who wish to see a just peace in the region between two sovereign states – Israel and Palestine – to reject this sham deal. We therefore appeal to Jews around the world, our national governments and all those committed to a just peace to oppose this plan. Instead, we pledge to redouble our efforts to work with Israelis and Palestinians toward a future in which they can live in peace, with freedom, dignity, and security.”
List of Signatories:
Jewish Labour movement, UK
Yachad, UK
New Israel Fund, UK
J Street, USA
Meretz, UK
Habonim Dror, UK
Noam, UK
New Israel Fund, USA
Friends of Rabbis for Human Rights, UK
Partners for Progressive Israel, USA
T’ruah, USA
Jewish Labor Committee, USA
Ameinu, USA
Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, USA
Progressive Israel Network, USA
J Call, EU
Jewish Democratic Initiative, South Africa
J Space, Canada
New Israel Fund, Australia
Hashomer Hatzair, Australia
Habonim Dror, Australia
Habonim Dror, Southern Africa
Meretz, Australia
Hashomer Hatzair, World Movement
J-AmLat, Latin America
Habonim Dror, Aotearoa, New Zealand
Ameinu, Australia
Netzer, Australia
New Israel Fund Canada
Canadian Friends of Peace Now
Global Coalition website here: https://www.globaljewishcoalition.org/
Following President Trump’s joint press conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington during which he presented his plan, NIF CEO Daniel Sokatch released the following statement:
“Most Israelis and the vast majority of American Jews want to see a democratic, equal, and just Israel. Today, the Trump Administration is offering Israeli officials and the radical settler right a free pass to march in the opposite direction: toward a future of unending injustice and inequality.
“This plan threatens to make the occupation permanent. If it becomes reality, there will be no two-state solution. This will cripple Israeli democracy by putting Israel in permanent control over the lives of millions of Palestinians who will have no right to vote for their own future. This is not the vision of Israel’s founders. It is not the vision of those of us who love and care about the state of Israel.
“The choice that has been available to Israel since 1967 remains clear: Israelis must choose between Israel’s Jewish character, its democracy, and its control over the Palestinian territories. Israel can choose two, but not all three. No unbalanced presidential edict disguised as a ‘peace plan’ will obscure this choice and no Israeli government will escape it.”