Americans for Peace Now (APN) is alarmed at recent statements and actions by President-elect Donald Trump's Israel affairs advisers, indicating support for West Bank settlements and dismissal of the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. APN is calling on the President-elect to clarify that he will follow the policies of all recent US administrations – Republican and Democratic – with respect to the Israel-Palestine question.
APN's President and CEO Debra DeLee said: "In the past few days we've seen alarming indications that the Trump administration might walk back long-held bipartisan US policies on Israel, shared by past Republican and Democratic administrations, including suggestions of abandoning the two-state solution. If President-elect Trump were to adopt such policies, he would be jeopardizing American national security interests in the region, and condemning Israel, our chief ally in the Middle Israel, to endless violence and strife, political isolation and even sanctions.
"Yesterday, we heard David Friedman, one of Trump's top advisers on Israel, say that the two-state solution is not 'the only answer anymore' to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Today, we see reports that Jared Kushner, Trump's son in law who was mentioned as potentially being a Middle East peace envoy in the new administration, has been supporting hardline West Bank settlements through the Kushner Family Foundation that he directs. Last month, we heard another one of Trump's senior Israel-affairs advisers, Jason Greenblatt, say that West Bank settlements are not an obstacle to peace.
"These recent developments further compound past alarming statements by members of Trump's inner circle on Israeli-Palestinian relations, and are already emboldening Israel's pro-settlement politicians to push legislation to annex the West Bank or parts of it, and to legalize West Bank settlements that are illegal even under current Israeli law, let alone international law.
"It would be a national security disaster, for the US and for Israel, if these developments indeed reflect what the actual policies of the Trump administration will be. We call on President-elect Trump to clarify that he will follow the policies of all recent US administrations – Republican and Democratic – in opposing settlements and supporting a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict."