A New US Strategy: Borders and Security First

J Street is calling on President Obama to take a “Borders and Security First” approach to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and achieving a two-state solution.

We have stood shoulder to shoulder with President Obama as he has repeatedly pushed both sides toward negotiations. Our community taken hundreds of thousands of actions in support of the President’s vision of Middle East peace and his active efforts to make it a reality from day one.

With the parties stuck in yet another unproductive diplomatic crisis over whether or not to even resume negotiations, the urgency of the moment demands a new, bolder, more assertive approach from the Administration to realize the President’s vision before time runs out on negotiations — and on his first term.

We are urging the Administration to focus – with or without resuming direct negotiations and/or a 90-day extension of the moratorium – on delineating an agreed-upon border between the state of Israel and the state-to-be of Palestine, and on proposals for meeting the full range of Israeli security needs in the face of the threats it faces.

The United States should make clear now that the border will be based on the 1967 lines with one-to-one land swaps, creating a Palestinian state on the equivalent of 100 percent of the land beyond the 1967 Green Line.  If the sides are unable to reach agreement, the United States should present a proposal to both sides that adheres to those parameters, asking for a yes-or-no decision.