J Street Director of Policy and Strategy Hadar Susskind released the following statement today:

J Street joins Vice President Biden in condemning Israel’s announcement of new East Jerusalem construction that only serves to hinder Middle East peace efforts, particularly as the Israelis and Palestinians begin proximity talks. As Vice President Biden said, this is “precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now.”

Continued construction in East Jerusalem and the West Bank only diminishes the chances of achieving a viable two-state solution to the conflict.

Yesterday’s announcement of proximity talks marked an important step forward, following a concerted American effort to engage the parties. Today’s announcement therefore marks a disappointing inflaming of tensions and undermining of trust – and is particularly surprising given Vice President Biden’s present visit to Israel aimed at underscoring the US-Israel relationship and the American commitment to a two-state resolution of the conflict.

We echo Vice President Biden’s call for all parties to refrain from unilateral actions that may inflame tensions and prejudice the outcome of peace talks. If we are to achieve a true resolution to the conflict – and secure Israel’s future as a Jewish, democratic homeland - all sides must demonstrate their commitment to the diplomatic and constructive engagement needed to succeed.

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J Street staff and the J Street community are deeply saddened to learn that former Israeli Foreign Ministry Director General and Mossad official David Kimche has passed away. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and colleagues.

We have lost a truly great man. David is entirely irreplaceable. He was a real leader, both through his work in the intelligence community and his unshakeable, realistic, and forward-thinking commitment to promoting peace between Israel and its neighbors.

David’s memory will always be a blessing for the J Street community and an inspiration for our ongoing efforts to achieve real peace and security for Israel through a two-state solution.

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Today, J Street Executive Director Jeremy Ben-Ami released the following statement:

J Street welcomes Senator Mitchell’s announcement today that Israeli and Palestinian leadership have accepted proximity talks.

We commend the U.S. administration for its concerted efforts to engage the parties and its strong commitment to a peaceful, diplomatic resolution to the conflict.

While these talks are a step in the right direction toward a two-state resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, ending the conflict will require more than talk and process. It will take strong and sustained American - and international - leadership to bridge differences and to support all sides in making difficult, but necessary compromises for peace.

The window of opportunity for achieving a tenable two-state solution is nearly closed, and the coming years are the last chance to secure Israel’s future as a democracy that is a national home for the Jewish people. We urge a seriousness of purpose from all involved that reflects the gravity of what is at stake.

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J Street and J Street U released the following statement today as “Israel Apartheid Week” begins on a number of campuses around North America:

As “Israel Apartheid Week” comes to campuses across North America this week to advocate for boycotts, divestment, and sanctions against Israel, J Street and J Street U reiterate our strong opposition to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

The BDS movement, whose dogmatic, counterproductive approach underlies “Israel Apartheid Week,” aims to delegitimize Israel’s very existence - making no distinction between West Bank settlements and Israel proper, and refusing to support a two-state solution that results in a viable Palestinian state and a secure, democratic Israel that is a homeland for the Jewish people, living side by side in peace and security. The BDS movement’s lack of support for a two-state solution puts it well outside the mainstream of the entire political leadership of Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and the United States.

We also reject comparisons of Israel to South African apartheid. The analogy clearly implies that Israel is illegitimate, that it deserves a wholesale boycott, and suggests a single state for Israelis and Palestinians would be some sort of solution to the conflict, when in reality, it is a recipe for further violence, strife, and insecurity.

The BDS movement wrongly places the entirety of blame for the conflict on Israel. Responsibility for the conflict does not rest exclusively with either the Israelis or the Palestinians, and moreover, this conflict will never be truly resolved if one side wins only at the other’s loss.

The approach of the BDS movement only serves to deepen Israel’s sense of isolation and thus harden Israelis against the compromises necessary to achieve peace, undermining the regular and inspiring cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians on the ground. This is singularly unhelpful particularly as the United States works to re-launch negotiations and as the window of opportunity for achieving a viable two-state solution grows ever smaller.

Few events better exemplify the counterproductive polarization on campus than “Israel Apartheid Week.” J Street and J Street U are committed to an open, honest and civilized debate that allows students to work constructively towards adopting positions and actions that can help resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Therefore, we strongly oppose Israel Apartheid Week because we believe that it employs inflammatory, inaccurate language, misrepresents the complex truth of the conflict, undercuts debate, alienates significant numbers of students, and advances the agenda of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

We’re proud to continue J Street U’s “Invest, Don’t Divest” campaign, which gives pro-peace students a concrete alternative to the BDS movement and an opportunity to invest in their campus debate, in their communities, and in the Israelis and Palestinians who will bring about the positive change needed to finally achieve two states and real peace and security for all.

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In today’s Knesset debate on “The Foreign Ministry’s Behavior Towards Members of the U.S. Congress and the J Street Lobby,” Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said:

“Since you asked what is the policy of the Foreign Ministry towards J Street, I want to be clear about it.  We will treat it exactly as we will treat any other Jewish organization in the US. There are organizations from the right, organizations from the left, organizations from the center, period.”

You can watch video and read a Hebrew transcript of the debate on the Knesset website here (Part 1) and here (Part 2).  A complete English translation of the debate is available below the fold.

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