Our Policy

J Street unequivocally condemns all acts of terror and violence perpetrated by any state or any non-state actor against the State of Israel or its people. We recognize the fundamental right of Israel to take action to prevent and address acts of terror and violence. We also recognize that Palestinians have the same fundamental right to safety and security that Israelis and civilians everywhere do. As required under international law, we believe the Israeli military should take every due precaution to protect the safety of Palestinian civilians.

J Street supports efforts to hold the Palestinians to their commitments to prevent terror and violence that targets Israel and its citizens, and has called on the Palestinians to fully comply with their obligations to crack down on violence and incitement. In particular, the Palestinian Authority’s practice of paying stipends – under the umbrella of a larger welfare program – to those imprisoned or killed in connection with acts of terrorism against Israelis, or to their families, must end. The Palestinian government must replace its prisoners’ payments program with a responsible welfare program to address concerns about incentivizing violence.

We also believe that Israelis who perpetrate price tag attacks and incite or commit other acts of violence against the civilian Palestinian population, should be prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law and subject to US sanctions – and that the Israeli government should also repudiate bigoted or otherwise incendiary rhetoric by its own officials whenever such instances occur.

J Street strongly encourages the parties to revisit and implement a long-standing proposal to reconvene the Trilateral Commission on Incitement, through which the US, Israel and the Palestinians could address and propose corrective action in response to charges of incitement.