Berman to APN: Israel in Danger of Ceasing to be a Jewish Democracy; Praises APN's Commitment to Peace

Los Angeles, CA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman, Rep. Howard Berman today told a group of Americans for Peace Now activists and supporters in Los Angeles that if Israel maintains its rule over the West Bank and Gaza, it will either cease to be a democracy, or will cease to be Jewish.

"APN is probably right that U.S. pressure on both sides is the only strategy with any real hope of pushing the two sides back to the negotiating table."

"Leaving aside the question of whether that's smart policy or not, politics suggests the administration is likely to move in the opposite direction."

I'll be honest with you. A: This is just really hard. Even for a guy like George Mitchell who helped bring about the peace in Northern Ireland. This is as intractable a problem as you get. B: Both sides--I think the Israelis and Palestinians--have found that the political environment, the nature of their coalitions, or the divisions within their societies were such that it was very hard for them to start engaging in a meaningful conversation. And I think that we overestimated our ability to persuade them to do so when their politics ran contrary to that.

From Abbas' perspective, he's got Hamas looking over his shoulder and I think an environment generally within the Arab world that feels impatient with any process.

And on the Israeli front, although the Israelis I think after a lot of time showed a willingness to make some modifications in their policies, still found it very hard to move with any bold gestures.  And so what we're going to have to do--I think it is absolutely true that what we did this year didn't produce the kind of breakthrough that we wanted and if we had anticipated some of these political problems on both sides earlier, we might not have raised expectations as high.

Moving forward, though, we are going to continue to work with both parties to recognize what I think is ultimately their deep-seated interest in a two-state solution in which Israel is secure and Palestinians have sovereignty and can start focusing on developing their economy and improving the lives of their children and grandchildren.

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Seven Blessings Celebrating the First Year in Office of President Barack Obama.

By Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels

1) We are in awe and in wonder before and within the Unity of All and we express our appreciation for being Jews embraced by the bountiful freedoms that are "America."

2) We are in awe and in wonder before and within the Unity of All, realizing that our presence in this nation is a gift, as it is for all our fellow citizens.