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APN's Briefing for the 109th Congress

Go to Table of Contents Introduction Americans for Peace Now (APN) was established in 1981 to mobilize support for the Israeli peace movement, Shalom Achshav. APN has since developed into the leading American Jewish Zionist organization actively working to achieve a comprehensive political settlement to the Arab-Israeli conflict. APN is the premier voice for American Jews who support Israel and know that only peace will ensure Israel's security, prosperity, ...

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Introduction

Americans for Peace Now (APN) was established in 1981 to mobilize support for the Israeli peace movement, Shalom Achshav. APN has since developed into the leading American Jewish Zionist organization actively working to achieve a comprehensive political settlement to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

APN is the premier voice for American Jews who support Israel and know that only peace will ensure Israel's security, prosperity, and continued viability as a Jewish, democratic state. Positions advocated for more than two decades by APN and Shalom Achshav - like calling for the evacuation of settlements and the creation of a viable Palestinian state - are now recognized by most Israelis and non-Israelis as basic requirements both for peace and for a secure future for Israel.

APN is a non-partisan organization with a non-partisan mission, actively engaging the Administration, Members of Congress, and key staff of both parties. We supply timely information and education, providing a pro-Israel, pro-peace, American Jewish perspective on issues and legislation. APN also engages in grassroots political activism and outreach to the American Jewish and Arab American communities, university campuses, opinion leaders, and the public at large. APN further promotes its agenda through press releases, editorials, and personal contacts with journalists, serving as a respected source of balanced information, analysis, and commentary.

Shalom Achshav (known in English as Peace Now) was established in 1978, when 348 senior army officers and combat soldiers came together to urge their government to sign a peace treaty with Egypt. They knew then what remains true today - real security for Israel can be achieved only through peace. In the years since its establishment Shalom Achshav has worked for the achievement of peace agreements between Israel and all her Arab neighbors, and has come to be recognized, both in Israel and abroad, as Israel's leading grassroots, Zionist movement mobilizing in support of peace and security.

Best known for mobilizing mass demonstrations, for many years Shalom Achshav has also been the only group conducting comprehensive monitoring of Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Shalom Achshav is widely cited in the Israeli and international media as the foremost authority on settlements and outposts. In November 2003, the director of its Settlements Watch program testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Near East Subcommittee.


Positions that Support Israel by Supporting Peace

The U.S., Israel, & the Quest for Peace

Rejection of Violence & Terror

Foreign Aid

Aid to Israel & the Middle East

The Path to Peace - Disengagement

The Path to Peace - The Road Map & Other Commitments

The Path to Peace - The U.S. Role

Democracy & Reform

The Security Barrier

U.S. Policy & Settlements

Settlements, Outposts, & Israeli Security

Jerusalem

U.S. Embassy in Israel

Anti-Semitism

Regional Partners in Peace

Syria & Lebanon


The U.S., Israel, & the Quest for Peace

History has shown - painfully - that Israel and the Palestinians cannot, on their own, extricate themselves from the cycle of terror and retaliatory action, much less achieve President George W. Bush's vision of two states coexisting in peace and with security. In the absence of committed U.S. leadership, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will continue to fester, and it will continue to negatively impact other key U.S. national security interests.

Protection of vital U.S. interests in the Middle East demands strong U.S. leadership in efforts to make peace. These interests include:

  • keeping Israel strong and secure;
  • stopping the spread of violent religious extremism;
  • stabilizing Iraq and protecting U.S. forces there;
  • blocking the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (including nuclear weapons);
  • supporting democratization in the region;
  • mobilizing European support for U.S. policies; and
  • preventing the destabilization of international oil markets.

On November 12, 2004, President Bush stated: ".We've got a great chance to establish a Palestinian state, and I intend to use the next four years to spend the capital of the United States on such a state. I believe it is in the interest of the world that a truly free state develop. .There's no other way to have a lasting peace, in my judgment, unless we all work to help develop the institutions necessary for a state to emerge: civil society, based upon justice, free speech, free elections, the right for people to express themselves freely."

APN urges Members of Congress to:

  • press the Administration to make good on President Bush's statement and make the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a top U.S. foreign policy priority;
  • support and demand sustained, credible U.S. leadership necessary to achieve real progress toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, not just managing it; and
  • give the Administration the flexibility and resources required to craft and carry out vital foreign policy initiatives in this arena, rejecting cynical attempts by opponents of Israeli-Palestinian peace to erect obstacles to progress.

Rejection of Violence & Terror

The sine qua non of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is that grievances must be handled only through negotiated, non-violent means. Israelis will continue to suffer the brunt of terrorist attacks if violence is allowed to flourish. Israel suffered more casualties from terrorism in the first four years of the Intifada than it did in the previous 53 years of its existence, and more deaths in that period than in all but two of its wars. At the same time, violence and terror will not bring the Palestinians any closer to statehood or economic stability and will only guarantee tragic consequences for the Palestinian people.

For its part, Israel must recognize that the only effective antidote to terror is a strong military policy combined with a serious and courageous commitment to achieving a negotiated peace. As former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin once stated, Israel must "pursue the peace process as if there is no terrorism, and fight terrorism as if there is no peace process." Moreover, Israel must recognize that a status quo that leaves the conflict unresolved - and abandons efforts to achieve its resolution - will be exploited by terrorists to expand their influence and capabilities, escalate violence, and incite anti-U.S. and anti-Israel sentiment and actions.

In the absence of credible efforts to achieve peace, the void will continue to be filled by the kind of violence that has consumed Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip for more than four years. The establishment of a credible negotiating track and the concomitant renewal of effective security cooperation are the only way to extinguish the fires of hatred and violence and deny extremists the ability to re-kindle them in the future.


APN urges Members of Congress to:

  • support all serious efforts to end violence and return the parties to meaningful negotiations;
  • in the context of a new leadership of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the re-organization of its security forces, support training and funding to enable these forces to maintain order and fight terror;
  • continue to demand that the PA make a 100% effort to stop violence and terror, even as it is working to consolidate and rebuild its security forces and capacity; and
  • reject actions that could prolong the bloodshed by erecting roadblocks to negotiations or diminishing U.S. influence and flexibility

Foreign Aid

Current foreign affairs funding (excluding funding for Iraq reconstruction) represents less than 1% of the total U.S. budget - a level already inadequate to sustain vital security, economic, social, and diplomatic programs and initiatives worldwide.

The horrific events of September 11, 2001, and the subsequent worldwide efforts to combat terror, have made it clear to all Americans that the U.S. has entered a truly global era - an era in which events and developments across the globe can imperil U.S. national security and endanger the safety, health, and economic welfare of U.S. citizens.

At a time when the U.S. faces unprecedented threats and challenges around the world, U.S. foreign assistance programs have a crucial role in promoting democracy, ensuring economic stability, protecting strategic interests, and building goodwill towards the American people, American policies, and American values.

American assistance programs help combat the hopelessness and dispossession in which political extremism and terrorism often take root. These programs are America's first line of defense against diseases and environmental contaminants that can cross borders, continents, and oceans. They are also America's first line of defense against shifting political and military alignments that can threaten vital U.S. political, economic, and strategic interests.

The rationale for strong, well-funded U.S. global leadership is more compelling now than at any time in the past.


APN urges Congress to:

  • support a robust foreign affairs budget - sufficient to foster and sustain U.S. foreign policies that protect U.S. security, prosperity, and global leadership.

Aid to Israel & the Middle East

America's investment in Israel and the Middle East serves to:

  • help Israel maintain its vital strategic military edge;
  • promote democracy and reform;
  • preserve strategically crucial U.S. military relationships, cooperative arrangements, and access routes;
  • sustain the historic Israel-Egypt peace agreement;
  • bolster America's allies and Israel's partners in peace, and contribute to the stability of Israel's neighbors;
  • mobilize aid from governments in the region and around the world;
  • demonstrate America's concern for the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people and America's commitment to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

This aid protects and promotes key U.S. interests, including:

  • keeping Israel strong and secure;
  • stopping the spread of violent religious extremism;
  • stabilizing Iraq and protecting U.S. forces there;
  • blocking the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction;
  • supporting democratization in the region;
  • mobilizing European support for U.S. policies; and
  • preventing the destabilization of international oil markets.


APN urges Members of Congress to:

  • support U.S. aid to Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon;
  • support U.S. aid to the Palestinians via non-governmental organizations, and - with proper safeguards in place - via the Palestinian Authority;
  • if asked, consider appropriate additional aid for Israel and the Palestinians to assist with the disengagement plan; and
  • resist efforts to unilaterally alter Egypt's aid program, recalling that this program was:

".part of an agreement for peace between Israel and Egypt. That peace has given Israel a level of security that no amount of assistance could pay for. .If we really care about Israel's security, we should be building up incentives for maintaining peace, not tearing them down." (Former Assistant Secretary of State and former Ambassador to Israel Edward S. Walker, 3/6/02)

The Path to Peace - Disengagement

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to remove all settlers and military installations from the Gaza Strip, as well as four settlements from the West Bank, places him squarely within the Israeli national consensus - a consensus that recognizes that settlements hurt Israel's security and economic prosperity, and undermine its character as a Jewish democratic state.

Implementation of the disengagement plan will improve Israeli security, reduce points of friction between Israelis and Palestinians, and create a new context more conducive to renewing negotiations. Sharon has taken important steps in pressing ahead with his plan - steps that have reverberated in the Israeli political scene and reinvigorated the hopes for peace. These steps, which have included taking on opponents in his own party, must not be discounted. At the same time, words and internal political sparring are not enough. The plan must be translated into action on the ground, and the preparatory period must not be cynically exploited to carry out actions in Jerusalem and the West Bank - like confiscating land and expanding settlements - that undermine the prospects for any real Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Finally, disengagement will be a positive step toward ending the conflict. However, the occupation will continue - albeit in a more benign form - so long as Israel maintains control over all of Gaza's borders, airspace, and coastline; retains the right to enter the effected areas for security operations; and maintains control over the West Bank (since Israeli-Palestinian treaties stipulate that the West Bank and Gaza are to be treated as one territorial unit). Fundamentally, the disengagement plan is not a substitute for negotiations, which remain the only way to bring real peace to Israel and end the occupation that began in 1967 - a goal endorsed by President Bush.

APN urges Members of Congress to:

  • support the disengagement plan and encourage the Administration to help Israel coordinate disengagement with newly empowered moderates in the Palestinian Authority, in order to achieve a peaceful transition, strengthen PA moderates, deny a victory to militants, and revive the Road Map; and
  • press the Administration to engage other key actors and stakeholders in the disengagement plan, like Jordan, Egypt, the World Bank, and members of the Quartet (Russia, the EU, and the UN).

The Path to Peace - The Road Map & Other Commitments

Distinct from the disengagement plan, Prime Minister Sharon has made significant commitments to the United States - under the Road Map and in separate undertakings - regarding settlements, outposts, and Israeli operations in the occupied territories. Israel must live up to these commitments - just as the Palestinians must live up to their commitments, in particular regarding combating terrorism.

Even while expressing strong support for Prime Minister Sharon's disengagement plan, President Bush has repeatedly assured Prime Minister Sharon, the Quartet, and the entire world that the United States remains committed to his June 24th vision and to the Road Map, and that the United States will "do its utmost to prevent any attempt by anyone to impose any other plan" (quoted from President Bush's April 14, 2004 letter to Prime Minister Sharon).

Israeli commitments include those made on May 25, 2003, when Israel formally undertook to implement the Road Map. Under Stage I of the Road Map, Israel is obligated to immediately dismantle "settlement outposts" and freeze "all settlement activity (including natural growth of settlements)." While "natural growth" has been presented by settler supporters as construction to accommodate growing settler families, in reality there is a surplus of uninhabited units in most settlements; "natural growth" is just a pretext to expand settlements, consolidate settlement blocks, and build new "neighborhoods" that are effectively new settlements.

In addition, the April 18, 2004 letter from Prime Minister Sharon's Chief of Staff Dov Weisglass to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice spelled out Sharon government commitments to remove settlement outposts, impose restrictions on settlement growth, remove many West Bank barriers, and deal with the issue of Israeli confiscation of Palestinian tax revenues.

APN urges Members of Congress to:

  • support efforts to get back to the Road Map;
  • press the Administration to hold both Israel and the Palestinians to their Road Map commitments; and
  • recognize that the U.S. does the parties no favors by ignoring these commitments, thereby overlooking violations that jeopardize progress and create further obstacles to successful peace negotiations.

The Path to Peace - The U.S. Role

President Bush expended significant political capital when, as part of his endorsement of Sharon's disengagement plan, he embraced Israeli positions on key final status issues (refugees and final borders) - issues which both sides have stipulated, in signed peace agreements, are to be left to final status negotiations. While many have argued that President Bush did not break any new ground in taking these positions, but rather formally recognized what everyone knows to be true, it is nonetheless the case that by officially embracing these positions, President Bush dealt a blow to Palestinian moderates who support negotiations, while strengthening extremists who argue that negotiations with Israel are pointless. At the same time, he undermined the ability of the U.S. to be seen as an honest broker in future peace negotiations.
If President Bush is genuinely committed to Israel's security and its future as a Jewish and democratic state, he must invest the prestige of his office in efforts that make sure that this disengagement initiative begins a process that enhances Israeli security, leads back to negotiations, and ultimately ends the occupation that began in 1967.
Real support for Israel means more than articulating support for Israeli positions. It also means establishing timelines for required actions by both sides and creating real monitoring mechanisms to guarantee that both sides comply with their commitments (and can verify the compliance of the other). As the disengagement process moves forward, it is inevitable that Israelis and Palestinians will focus on their own internal debates and political dynamics. It will be left to the U.S., with its own vested interests in achieving peace and security for Israel and the region, to shepherd the Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table and to marshal the international support - moral and material - to keep the parties on the path of peace.

APN urges Members of Congress to:

  • support and demand real, sustained Administration leadership toward implementing both the Sharon disengagement plan and the Road Map; and
  • if asked, consider providing appropriate additional aid to Israel and the Palestinians to support implementation of the disengagement plan, the Road Map, and any future peace agreement.

Democracy & Reform

Over the past four years calls have increased - from the U.S., Israel, and other members of the international community - for fundamental reforms of the Palestinian leadership, political institutions, and security organizations. At the same time, Palestinians have become increasingly disenchanted with their leadership's record of corruption and ineffectiveness. The voices of Palestinians calling for reform, transparency, accountability, and democracy have become louder and more insistent.

It is clear that the majority of Palestinians want democracy, and it is important that Israel, the U.S., and other stakeholders support its emergence. At the same time, democracy will likely not be born overnight, and opponents of peace are already cynically seeking to use the absence of democracy as a pretext for postponing, perhaps indefinitely, efforts to achieve peace. Leaving problems on the ground - like continued settlement expansion - unaddressed until Palestinian democracy is fully entrenched will only undermine Palestinian moderates, diminish the chances that they will succeed in building a democracy, and increase the likelihood that a final peace agreement will never be achieved.

It should be recalled that democracy was not a precondition for Israeli negotiations with Egypt or Jordan, and the absence of democracy in those countries did not preclude the achievement of successful, enduring peace agreements with them - agreements that have delivered tremendous security dividends to Israel. Similarly, while the U.S. should support Palestinian efforts to establish a democratic state, democracy should not be a precondition for negotiations or an agreement with the Palestinians.

APN urges Members of Congress to:

  • support and press for Administration initiatives to bolster moderate, pro-peace Palestinian leaders;
  • if asked, provide appropriate funding and training to support free and fair elections, reform Palestinian security services, rebuild civilian infrastructure, address humanitarian needs, and meet challenges arising out of implementation of the disengagement plan;
  • couple rhetorical support for democracy with a long-term commitment to concrete assistance and meaningful U.S. engagement to support moderate, democratic leaders; and
  • reject efforts to make democratization a pretext for refusing to move ahead with peace negotiations.

The Security Barrier

After more than four years of violence, including horrific suicide bombings inside Israel, Israelis have justifiably demanded a barrier between Israel and the West Bank. In addition to making it harder for terrorists to reach Israel, an effective barrier can also improve the prospects for peace, making it more difficult for extremists to use violence to destroy any renewed efforts.

The issue is not whether Israel has the right to build a barrier, but where that barrier should be. A barrier penetrating deep inside the West Bank has little to do with protecting Israel and everything to do with appeasing settlers. Such a route is unsound from a security perspective, extending the barrier's length and increasing the number of vulnerable points. It also increases the cost of constructing it, the number of soldiers required to patrol it, and the number of Palestinians who will be swept inside Israel's line of defense (and whose lives will be made unbearable in the process). In addition, as has been seen, such a route unnecessarily fuels international outrage and condemnation of an otherwise legitimate security initiative.

Indeed, the Road Map explicitly requires Israel to take "no actions undermining trust, including.confiscation and/or demolition of Palestinian homes and property." Seizing land deep inside the West Bank - even for the construction of the security barrier - raises doubts about Israel's commitment to the Road Map and a viable two-state solution consistent with President Bush's vision. It also undermines support for Palestinian moderates and empowers violent extremists.

Israel's Supreme Court recognized some of the problems inherent in the route of the barrier when it ruled in summer 2004 that the route had to be altered to take into account disproportionate hardships inflicted on the Palestinians. A barrier that follows the pre-1967 border as closely as possible (like the one surrounding the Gaza Strip) will support Israel's security needs, inflict less harm on innocent Palestinians, and preserve the prospects for peace.

APN urges Members of Congress to:

  • support Israel's right to self-defense; and
  • urge the Administration to continue to press Israel to adopt a route for the security barrier between the West Bank and Israel that does not undermine the Road Map, the prospects for peace, and the security of the vast majority of Israelis.

U.S. Policy & Settlements

  • September 1, 1982, President Ronald Reagan: "further settlement activity is in no way necessary for the security of Israel and only diminishes the confidence of the Arabs that a final outcome can be freely and fairly negotiated."
  • May 22, 1991, Secretary of State James Baker: "...I don't think there is a bigger obstacle to peace than the settlement activity that continues not only unabated but at an enhanced pace."
  • 1992, President George H.W. Bush: linked the provision of $10 billion in U.S. loan guarantees to Israeli settlement policy, reflecting his recognition that settlements were so detrimental to U.S. interests as to justify using an extraordinary assistance package as leverage to convince Israel to change its policy.
  • January 7, 2001, President William J. Clinton: "...the settlement enterprise and building bypass roads in the heart of what...will one day be part of a Palestinian state is inconsistent with the Oslo commitment that both sides should negotiate a compromise."
  • June 24, 2002, President George W. Bush: outlined his vision for the Middle East, including the creation of a Palestinian state living side by side with Israel - a state that the expansion of settlements will make impossible. He also stated that "...consistent with the recommendations of the Mitchell Committee, Israeli settlement activity in the occupied territories must stop."
  • April 2004, release of the US-backed Road Map: under Stage I, Israel is required to immediately dismantle "settlement outposts" and freeze "all settlement activity (including natural growth of settlements)."

APN urges Members of Congress to:

  • press the Administration to oppose all settlement construction, including in areas likely to remain under Israeli control. U.S. approval, tacit or explicit, of such construction undermines Palestinian moderates, feeds extremism, and diminishes the chances of achieving a negotiated agreement that could legitimize Israeli claims to those areas; and
  • demand that the Administration provide Congressionally-mandated reports regarding Israeli spending on settlements and any resulting cuts in U.S. loan guarantees to Israel, as required in Public Law 108-11, signed by President Bush on April 16, 2003.

Settlements, Outposts, & Israeli Security

The economic and security challenges facing Israel are exacerbated by continued investment in settlements and refusal to rein in renegade settlers who persist in establishing new settlement outposts. Polls show wide support among Israelis for a settlement freeze, dismantling of outposts, and settlement evacuations. Polls also have shown that most settlers would accept withdrawal from settlements in the context of a peace agreement and a compensation program.

Settlements and settlement outposts stretch Israel's lines of defense, forcing the IDF to shift resources from preventing terrorist attacks in Israel to protecting the lives, homes, and transportation routes of those few Israelis living in the heart of Palestinian populations and in far-flung areas of the West Bank and Gaza. Settlements also compromise Israel's ability to build stronger defenses along the Green Line, leaving large numbers of Israelis outside Israel's line of defense, or, where the route of the barrier is contorted to include settlements, sweeping large numbers of Palestinians inside Israeli's line of defense. In addition, settlements are a drain on Israel's already beleaguered budget, with significant direct government funding for construction, as well as substantial indirect government funding that affords settlers a wide range of income, education, housing, and transportation subsidies and incentives.

Settlements also represent an existential threat to Israel as a Jewish, democratic state. By making it impossible for Israel to disengage from the West Bank and Gaza, they ensure that the government of Israel will eventually govern an area in which non-Jews outnumber Jews. Israel will thus be forced to choose between remaining a democracy and losing its character as a Jewish state, or retaining its character as Jewish state at the expense of democracy (i.e., with a Jewish minority ruling over a disenfranchised non-Jewish majority).

APN urges Members of Congress to:

  • press Israel to end its policy of building and expanding settlements and to take swift and decisive action against outposts - consistent with its Road Map obligations; and
  • demand that the Administration provide Congressionally-mandated reports regarding Israeli spending on settlements and any resulting cuts in U.S. loan guarantees to Israel, as required in Public Law 108-11, signed by President Bush on April 16, 2003.

Jerusalem

Jerusalem is and will forever be the capital of Israel. Any rational policy must also recognize that: one-third of Jerusalem's residents are Palestinians; all Palestinians consider Jerusalem their capital and have deep political, economic, and religious ties to the city; and Muslims and Christians around the world are deeply connected to Jerusalem. For the sake of Israel's security and stability, a formula must be found to share the city between Israelis and Palestinians, and between Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

The emergence of a Palestinian capital in Arab areas of Jerusalem does not undermine Israel's claim to Jerusalem as its capital. To the contrary, such a development would clear the way - at long last - for international recognition of Jewish Jerusalem, with a strong Jewish majority, as Israel's eternal capital. Even Israeli leaders on the right - like former Jerusalem mayor and Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert - have discussed the idea of giving the Palestinians sovereignty over the Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem.

There is nothing sacred about the city's municipal borders, which were redrawn by Israel after the 1967 War to include large areas of the West Bank, home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. Since then, Israel has built Jewish neighborhoods in these areas in order to erase the pre-1967 border, reinforce the new municipal boundaries, and make the city indivisible. As a result, in Jerusalem there is no clear line on which to build a separation barrier. The barrier being built in the city, mainly along the municipal borders, separates not Israelis from Palestinians, but Palestinians from Palestinians. Construction of such a barrier - coupled with increased efforts to undermine the rights of Palestinian residents of the city - threatens to cut off Jerusalem's Palestinians from schools, jobs, medical care, and other services, and risks radicalizing a population that has traditionally eschewed violence.

Pragmatic, creative solutions exist to satisfy competing claims to Jerusalem and its holy sites; what is needed is the leadership, courage, and goodwill to explore them.

APN urges Members of Congress to:

  • reject statements and actions that undermine Israel's security and stability by seeking to pre-empt future Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on the issue of Jerusalem; and
  • work to ensure access to Jerusalem for all religions, respect the delicate status quo regarding holy sites, and recognize that security and stability in Jerusalem are linked to the welfare of all of its inhabitants.

U.S. Embassy in Israel

APN supports the relocation of the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. However, the timing of this relocation should be decided within the context of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

APN urges Members of Congress to:

  • reject efforts to force an immediate transfer of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem outside the context of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Such a unilateral shift in the delicate status quo could have broad destabilizing effects - threatening Israel's security, hurting U.S. interests and strategic relationships in the region, and compromising America's position as a mediator in future Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

Anti-Semitism

Anti-Israel and anti-Jewish rhetoric remain serious problems, including in the state-run press, textbooks, and official rhetoric of both U.S. allies and countries that have signed peace treaties and agreements with Israel. Such rhetoric is inconsistent with the spirit and letter of these treaties and agreements, and undermines support for peace efforts, both in Israel and the United States. Combating this problem should be an important element of U.S. bilateral relations.

APN urges Members of Congress to:

  • encourage and support efforts from within Palestinian society and the Palestinian Authority to fight incitement;
  • urge the Administration to support the re-constituting of a high-level multilateral anti-incitement committee to monitor and report on incitement and progress in combating it; and
  • support the fight against anti-Jewish and anti-Israel incitement, particularly in the UN and with nations for whom the U.S. provides moral and material support.

Regional Partners in Peace

"Egypt has been an active partner for the United States and the parties themselves in developing the Road Map for Middle East peace, in pushing forward its implementation, and in coordinating with us regional efforts to support it.Egypt's voice has been clear and consistent with the Palestinian Authority on the absolute need to end armed attacks on Israelis, and Egyptian envoys at a very senior level have pressed Palestinian leaders and Palestinian factions to implement a unilateral, comprehensive end to violence and terror..Egypt's public commitment to assist with the reorganization and retraining of Palestinian police and security units has been critical to building Israeli confidence that disengagement as the Prime Minister has proposed can proceed without threat to Israel's security."
- (Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Satterfield, 6/16/04)

In 1978 Israel and Egypt signed the Camp David Accords, ensuring stability and security on Israel's southern border for more than a quarter of a century, and opening the way for diplomatic, security, and economic cooperation. In 1994 Israel and Jordan signed a peace agreement, ensuring the stability and security of the Israeli-Jordanian border and of the Israeli-controlled eastern border between the West Bank and Jordan, and paving the way for diplomatic relations, economic ties, and water-sharing agreements. Israel's peace agreements with Jordan and Egypt came as the result of courageous and visionary leadership in all three countries. The enduring nature of these peace agreements, even under the strain of the current crisis, demonstrates that peace agreements based on mutual interests can be successful. Moreover, both Jordan and Egypt have played important and constructive roles in efforts to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and normalize relations.

In addition, in 2002 Saudi Arabia offered a comprehensive peace plan for Israel, Syria, and the Palestinians - including full normalization of relations with Israel. This plan was subsequently adopted by the Arab League. Unfortunately, this unprecedented initiative was largely ignored in the United States.

APN urges Members of Congress to:

  • support strong U.S. relations with Israel's courageous partners in peace - Jordan and Egypt; and
  • welcome and take seriously initiatives by other Arab states that reflect a sincere willingness to pursue peace and lead to normalized relations with Israel.

Syria & Lebanon

Syria: It is regrettable that Israel and Syria have so far failed to achieve a peace agreement. A viable peace treaty with Syria, along with existing peaceful relations with Egypt, Jordan and Turkey, will help complete a vital circle of peace around Israel. It will also pave the way for a peace agreement with Lebanon - a border that, while calmer than in the past, remains a source of intermittent attack and constant threat. It is also regrettable that President Bashar al-Assad has not overturned Syria's longstanding policies of permitting terrorist organizations to use Damascus as a base and of supporting Hizballah.

APN urges Members of Congress to:

  • support future efforts by Israel to achieve a peace agreement with Syria;
  • reject efforts to place preconditions on negotiations, pre-empt U.S. options for supporting such negotiations, or block U.S. support for an agreement that such negotiations may produce; and
  • support U.S. engagement and diplomatic efforts to press Syria to expel terrorist organizations from its territory and end its support for Hizballah.

Lebanon: In 2000 Israel implemented a unilateral withdrawal of its troops from Lebanon, fulfilling its responsibilities under UN Resolution 425. It is regrettable that in the intervening years Lebanon and Syria (which maintains a strong military presence in Lebanon) have failed to prevent cross-border attacks against Israel, and that Lebanon has failed to restore government control in the border area, effectively ceding the border to Hizballah.

Regarding the Syrian presence in Lebanon, the ultimate goal should be the departure of Syrian troops, as per UN Security Council Resolution 520. This departure should be accomplished in a manner that does not threaten regional stability.

APN urges Members of Congress to:

  • support active U.S. engagement and diplomatic efforts to deal with the destabilizing activities of Hizballah on Lebanon's northern border with Israel, as well as to restore Lebanese government control in the border area; and
  • support active U.S. engagement and diplomatic efforts to deal with the continued Syrian presence in Lebanon.