IPF Press Releases

Israel's Acceptance of the Quartet's Proposal

Israel Policy Forum — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 11:09:32 -0400

Israel Policy Forum applauds the statement made by the Office of Israel’s Prime Minister that “Israel welcomes the Quartet's call to hold direct talks with no preconditions with the Palestinian Authority as previously proposed by US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”

In order to realize the goal of “two-states , Israel and Palestine living side-by-side in peace and security” both parties will need to return to the negotiating table. Therefore, IPF shares the Prime Minister’s call for the Palestinian leadership to “enter into direct talks without delay."

To achieve progress at this critical time, each side should refrain from any further unilateral actions that would undermine the prospect for successful negotiations. Furthermore, the United States and the international donor community should continue to maintain their commitments to enable each side to advance negotiations with the confidence that they will have the resources and security needed to make difficult decisions on the path toward a lasting, negotiated two-state solution.

IPF Statement: On the Indication of Prime Minister Netanyahu's Flexibility on the Border Issue

David Halperin — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 18:18:39 -0400

Israel Policy Forum commends the recent indication that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “willing to show flexibility” in his approach to the border issue in recognition of the need to move forward with direct negotiations with the Palestinians.

Overcoming the current stalemate will require practical approaches to build the framework for a lasting resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In this regard, the Prime Minister’s reported flexibility regarding borders is an important and welcome development.

A border agreement could provide a pragmatic way to change the mindset of day-to-day conflict for both societies, even if actual implementation were not to take place immediately. The precedent of an agreed demarcation of the boundary between the two sides would be a historic step forward in the effort to achieve a lasting, two-state solution.

Israel Policy Forum remains committed to galvanizing support from the majority of American Jews – and the Americans at-large – who are eager for the United States and the State of Israel to work together to find meaningful steps forward in the pursuit of comprehensive peace and security in the Middle East.

Statement Following Prime Minister Netanyahu's US Visit

Israel Policy Forum — Thu, 26 May 2011 10:32:11 -0400

Israel Policy Forum (IPF) applauds President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for their expressed commitment to the unshakeable bond between the United States and the State of Israel, and to the goal of a lasting peace.

We applaud President Obama for stating “publicly what has long been acknowledged privately,” that “the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps.” As the President reiterated in his remarks at AIPAC, this means “that the parties themselves – Israelis and Palestinians – will negotiate a border that is different than the one that existed on June 4, 1967,” which is “a well-known formula to all who have worked on this issue for a generation.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu should be commended for acknowledging for the first-time ever that “in any peace agreement that ends the conflict, some settlements will end up beyond Israel’s borders” and that “creativity and goodwill” will be needed in order to resolve the contentious issue of the final status of the city of Jerusalem.

We believe that these steps, coupled with the warm bipartisan welcome Prime Minister Netanyahu received in Congress, provide the Prime Minister with the political capital necessary for the bold and courageous leadership that will be needed in the critical months ahead.

As President Obama stated in his two speeches, “a lasting peace that ends the conflict and resolves all claims is more urgent than ever,” and “the basis for negotiations has to hold out the prospect of success.”

Leadership from both Israel and the Palestinians is urgently needed if negotiations are to be renewed, and Prime Minister Netanyahu is to fulfill his pledge that rather than “be the last country to welcome a Palestinian state as a new member of the United Nations, (Israel) will be the first to do so.”

Statement on President Obama's Speech

Israel Policy Forum — Fri, 20 May 2011 15:37:20 -0400

Peter Joseph, President of Israel Policy Forum (IPF), released the following statement:

Israel Policy Forum applauds President Obama’s speech reaffirming his strong support for a two-state solution that ensures Israel’s security.

President Obama’s statement that “the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps,” is a clear articulation of the United States’ understanding of the basis for border negotiations. This is the same basis upon which official and unofficial negotiations between the parties have been conducted for years.

During his Cairo speech in June 2009, with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, President Obama implored the parties to recognize that “It is time for us to act on what everyone knows to be true.” This remains especially true today. Doing so will require the Palestinians to address the obstacles that Hamas poses to negotiations, and for both parties to return to the table for good-faith negotiations toward a “mutually agreed” two-state solution by placing principles above politics.

Israel Policy Forum is committed to galvanizing leaders in the American Jewish community and in Washington to provide President Obama with the kind of credible, mainstream address of support that he will need to cut through the polarization that is currently gripping this issue, in order to realize lasting peace and security for the State of Israel. We welcome the White House’s steadfast dedication to achieving this goal.

Israel Policy Forum Announces Its Next Chapter With Middle East Progress

Israel Policy Forum — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:04:55 -0500

Dear Friends and Supporters of Israel Policy Forum:

On behalf of Israel Policy Forum (IPF), including our President Peter Joseph and Chair Larry Zicklin, I am pleased to inform you that IPF is embarking on its next chapter.

Effective January 1st, Israel Policy Forum will bring its experience and expertise to Middle East Progress (MEP), a project of the Center for American Progress (CAP), to form a strong base of American support for a comprehensive Middle East peace, including a two-state solution. Founded by former White House Chief of Staff John D. Podesta in 2003, the Center for American Progress is the leading voice in Washington promoting ideas and action to address a wide-range of issues, from domestic and economic policy, to climate change and national security. CAP recognizes the critical need to “build and hold a consensus for a two-state solution as a U.S. national security interest.”

Click here to read the letter from CAP Senior Vice President, Rudy deLeon

Israel Policy Forum was formed in 1993 by a group of American Jewish leaders who, with the encouragement of Israel’s Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and others, created an American voice that combined support of a strong U.S.-Israel relationship with that of robust U.S. diplomatic efforts in pursuit of peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

Over the past 16 years we have consistently provided engaging commentary and analysis, insightful policy recommendations and advocacy, and compelling events. All of our work has supported active U.S. engagement to achieve lasting peace and security in the region as a core American interest.

At Middle East Progress we will do this and more.

With our combined credentials and capacity in the United States and across the region, Middle East Progress will be uniquely suited to promote pragmatic U.S. policy approaches to the challenges facing peace and security in the Middle East.

As we combine our efforts in the coming weeks, I encourage you to support us by making a contribution in support of our combined effort and sign up for the Middle East Bulletin, the twice-a-week newsletter of Middle East Progress.

Click here to support Middle East Progress at the Center for American Progress.

On behalf of IPF, MEP and CAP, I thank you for your past and continued involvement and support.

Sincerely,

Nick Bunzl

Executive Director, IPF

IPF Statement on the Jerusalem Planning Commission's Approval to Build in Gilo area

Israel Policy Forum — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:29:30 -0500

Israel Policy Forum shares the White Houses’s “dismay” at the approval by the Jerusalem Planning Committee to build in the Gilo area south of Jerusalem, and agrees completely with the White House statement on this issue. The proposed plan for Gilo goes beyond the recognized borders of that neighborhood and in fact represents expansion into the West Bank.

This is an ill-advised plan at the wrong time. With negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians ground to a halt, unilateral actions by either Israelis or Palestinians on issues that can only be resolved through negotiations serve to engender mistrust and animosity, and set the parties even further away from the goal of a two-state solution. Both Israelis and Palestinians should take steps that will advance prospects for a peace agreement, not set them back.

Now is the time for leadership. Sincere commitment and strong determination to resolve the conflict requires leaders from both sides setting their national interests ahead of political ones. IPF stands in support of the White House in its efforts to communicate this message to the parties as clearly as possible, and in its continued determination to achieve progress toward a sustainable two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Statement by Nick Bunzl, IPF Executive Director on Tripartite Meeting in New York

Israel Policy Forum — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:13:16 -0400

Today's tripartite meeting in New York was potentially an important step toward resuming negotiations aimed at a two-state solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

It must now be followed up by Israel and the Palestinians demonstrating the political will and courage to make the compromises necessary to end their conflict.

President Obama is correct that it is "past time to talk about starting negotiations -- it is time to move forward... permanent status negotiations must begin and begin soon." He is also correct that "success depends on all sides acting with a sense of urgency."

In this regard, President Obama's call for US Special Middle East Envoy George Mitchell to meet with Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in Washington next week and his pledge "to pressing ahead in the weeks and months and years to come" are welcome signs.

As the President stated, resolving this conflict is "not just critical for the Israelis and the Palestinians, it's critical for the world, it is in the interests of the United States."

Israel Policy Forum remains fully committed to supporting and encouraging the efforts of the Obama administration to reach the goal reaffirmed again today by President Obama: 'two states for two peoples living in peace and security'."

Statement by Nick Bunzl, IPF Executive Director

Israel Policy Forum — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 12:39:39 -0400

Israel Policy Forum (IPF) announces with regret the departure of our Director of Policy Analysis, MJ Rosenberg, who will leave IPF later this month to become a Senior Fellow at Media Matters Action Network, where he will comment on foreign affairs.

All of us at Israel Policy Forum offer MJ our appreciation for his eleven years of forceful pro-Israel advocacy with us on behalf of sustained American engagement in the Israel-Arab arena and of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

MJ has played a key role in helping IPF keep these issues before three successive US administrations, the Congress, the American Jewish community and the public. For the past decade, IPF Friday, MJ's weekly opinion column, has become one of the most widely read pieces on the Arab-Israeli conflict. Often controversial, always provocative, MJ developed a signature style that pushed the envelope in a way that drove much needed discussion and debate on the issue, particularly online.

On the one hand, MJ's passion and creativity will certainly be missed by IPF; but on the other, we couldn't be happier for him. In recent years he has become a natural blogger, and in his new role he will have the chance to focus his energies there.

We offer him our thanks, and wish him the best of luck.

Israel Policy Forum (www.israelpolicyforum.org), an independent, non-partisan American organization founded in 1993, advocates for sustained American diplomatic efforts to end the Israeli-Arab conflict and actively promotes a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel Policy Forum Statement on Prime Minister Netanyahu`s Decision to Freeze Construction in East Jerusalem

Israel Policy Forum — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:45:06 -0400

Israel Policy Forum (IPF) "hailed" reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu has decided to freeze a project to construct some 900 apartments in East Jerusalem, a day after he held talks with U.S. Special Envoy Mitchell.

"This decision, combined with Israel's reported expansion of the types of building material it will allow into Gaza are important steps by the Israeli government that can ease the path leading to successful negotiations over the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel," said IPF Executive Director Nick Bunzl in a statement released today.

"These two decisions offer evidence that the Obama administration's demonstrated commitment to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can improve facts on the ground while offering all the parties to the Arab-Israeli conflict a genuine, renewed opportunity for peace and stability in the region," Bunzl said.

"These actions, though significant, are symbolic and require responsive and additional steps by all the parties," IPF's statement continued. "The Egyptians have been playing important mediating roles. It is time for the Palestinian Authority, for example, to stop incitement and Arab states to make symbolic gestures toward Israel that will advance President Obama's efforts."

"It is precisely at a time when progress toward resolving the conflict is being made that the Obama administration's approach should be backed by parties in and out of the region. IPF therefore calls on members of Congress and the American Jewish community to vigorously express their support for these policies," Bunzl declared. "That is how they can sustain the efforts to achieve a breakthrough in Israeli-Palestinian relations."

Israel Policy Forum Statement on Housing Construction in East Jerusalem

Israel Policy Forum — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 10:29:36 -0400

Israel Policy Forum is greatly concerned by Israeli plans to build a new Jewish housing development in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem. Construction in areas that will be part of negotiations over the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel undermines efforts to achieve a lasting resolution of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. It weakens the moderate Palestinian leaders at precisely the time when all efforts should be made to strengthen them.

This plan is an unnecessary provocation of the Obama administration and the moderate Palestinian leadership designed to create "facts on the ground" in East Jerusalem in order to prevent an Israeli-Palestinian agreement, and to appease right-wing constituencies within Israel and elsewhere.

The Obama administration's demonstrated commitment to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict offers all the parties to the Arab-Israeli conflict a genuine, renewed opportunity. As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton clearly stated in her speech last week, "ending the conflict requires action on all sides ."

IPF therefore calls on members of Congress and American Jewish leaders to join the Obama administration in expressing their strong displeasure with plans like this that are bound to jeopardize U.S. efforts to achieve a breakthrough in Israeli-Palestinian relations.