J Street Executive Director Jeremy Ben-Ami released the following statement:
President Obama and his Administration made the right decision to pull out of the Durban II Conference, after trying to influence the agenda to preclude a repeat of the anti-Semitism and compulsive Israel-bashing that characterized the first conference in 2001. The recently installed Administration’s late arrival to the planning process made it particularly difficult to influence the agenda – though it was a worthy effort given the time constraints.
We hope that there will be continued efforts in the international community and the Obama Administration to try to create a viable and serious international forum to address all forms of discrimination and to help enforce human rights standards around the world.