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

J Street applauds Foreign Secretary David Miliband’s rejection of an arrest warrant issued for Israeli Opposition Leader Tzipi Livni in Great Britain, as well as his promise to pursue a change in the law that would prevent unfortunate events like these from happening in the future.

The principle of diplomatic immunity allows world leaders to travel to negotiate in good faith on issues affecting their countries’ core national interests and must be protected from politically-motivated abuse.

While J Street may have had disagreements with the Israeli government over the strategic choice it made to launch Operation Cast Lead in Gaza last year, we have always stated our support for Israel’s right to defend itself against terror and extremism. We oppose efforts to abuse the international legal system to prevent Israel from exercising that fundamental right.

Kadima leader Tzipi Livni has tirelessly advocated for a two-state solution because she believes it is a core Israeli interest to achieve such a resolution to this decades-old conflict. Her advocacy for a two-state solution inside Israel should be applauded, not attacked. The time has come for both President Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu to set aside talk of preconditions and other reasons not to proceed with negotiations and get down to the hard work of resolving the tough issues at the heart of the conflict. Achieving a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains the only way to ensure Israel’s long-term security as a Jewish, democratic homeland.