In response to the US decision to deny visas to Palestinian passport holders as well as to Palestinian leaders ahead of the UN General Assembly, J Street Chief Policy Officer Ilan Goldenberg issued the following statement:
“This decision is petty, nonsensical, and self-defeating. Netanyahu has long worked to undermine moderate Palestinian leaders as a way to foreclose a Palestinian state – and Trump is now following the same playbook. This is a decision consistent with the political interests of the extreme Israeli right, not the national interests of the United States.
The Palestinian Authority is far from a perfect institution and still requires significant reform. However, it works with Israeli security services every day to prevent terrorism in the West Bank and, as opposed to Hamas, it remains committed to nonviolence as the means to achieving Palestinian statehood.
The extraordinary step of barring all Palestinians from entering the US and denying their leaders the right to represent them at the UN must be considered alongside Netanyahu’s recent push to annex parts of the West Bank and Trump’s endorsement of the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza. Together, Trump and Netanyahu are working to erase anything that resembles Palestinian statehood.
Instead, the United States should be working with the Palestinian Authority to advance security, democratic and anti-corruption reforms – as well as a plan to end the war, stabilize Gaza and isolate Hamas, where the Palestinian Authority should be playing a key role. By humiliating Palestinian leadership, Trump bolsters Hamas’ dangerous narrative that only violence achieves results, while giving Netanyahu cover to pursue indefinite occupation in Gaza.
The decision to bar Palestinian officials from the UNGA also further erodes America’s global leadership. By breaking core American obligations of the UN Headquarters Agreement for narrow political motives – while still honoring them for Russian, Chinese, and Iranian officials – Trump is signaling to the world that we are a capricious, incoherent and unreliable partner with no respect for the rule of law and international agreements.
We urge President Trump to reverse these decisions and focus on solving problems, not creating them.”