J Street Determined to Answer President Obama’s UN Challenge

September 24, 2013

In his speech to the United Nations General Assembly, President Obama has again challenged friends of Israel to get behind his effort to achieve peace with the Palestinians based on a two-state solution. J Street welcomes that call and urges other American Jewish organizations to do the same.

“Friends of Israel, including the United States, must recognize that Israel’s security as a Jewish and democratic state depends on the realization of a Palestinian state. And we should say so clearly,” Obama said.

“Arab states and those who support the Palestinians must recognize that stability will only be served through a two-state solution and a secure Israel.”

J Street’s immediate response will come at our annual conference convening in Washington DC on Saturday evening which will bring together over 2,500 activists who recognize the urgency of this moment and are determined to meet the challenge.

The President stressed that Israel’s future as a democracy and a Jewish homeland depended on reaching peace with the Palestinians.

“There’s a growing recognition within Israel that the occupation of the West Bank is tearing at the democratic fabric of the Jewish state,” he said.

“But, the children of Israel have the right to live in a world where the nations assembled in this body fully recognize their country, and where we unequivocally reject those who fire rockets at their homes or incite others to hate them.”

J Street also welcomes Obama’s pledge to test the diplomatic path in an effort to solve the nuclear crisis with Iran peacefully.

“We are not seeking regime change, and we respect the right of the Iranian people to access peaceful nuclear energy,” he said.

“We should be able to achieve a resolution that respects the rights of the Iranian people while giving the world confidence that the Iranian program is peaceful,” Obama added.