June 4, 2020
Dear Vice President Biden,
As a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization, we do not engage in electoral work and we do not support or oppose candidates. What we do is work for a peaceful two-state solution in which Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace and security.
Unfortunately, that vision of two sovereign states living side by side is under threat. Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government are finalizing their plans for unilateral annexation of West Bank territory. They have recently indicated that they are rushing toward annexation to take advantage of the Trump administration’s support for such a move. They refer to the next six months as a “historic opportunity” to establish facts on the ground. They hope that Trump’s view, an aberration inconsistent with decades of bipartisan US policy, would not be revoked by future US administrations.
That is why we are writing to urge you to declare now that if you are elected as the next president of the United States, you will not recognize any unilateral Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank. Such a statement, now, could convince Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to cancel its annexation plan. At the very least, if Netanyahu does annex before you take office, it would make it easier for you to confront Netanyahu over this unhelpful policy in the future.