J Street Welcomes President Obama’s UNGA Remarks

J Street welcomes President Obama’s powerful speech this morning at the United Nations General Assembly, articulating a vision for addressing the world’s most difficult challenges grounded in values and principles that the United States has championed throughout its history and around the world.

The president eloquently honored the memory of Ambassador Chris Stevens and paid tribute to the changes sweeping the Middle East and the world that are bringing hope and freedom to ever-greater numbers of people.

On Iran, we applaud the president saying that while “we respect the right of nations to access peaceful nuclear power…the United States will do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.” We commend the president’s desire to resolve the issue through diplomacy and to ensuring that a broad coalition of countries is working together to this end.

On the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the president rightly said that “the future must not belong to those who turn their backs on the prospect of peace.” With President Mahmoud Abbas ready to propose that the UN General Assembly upgrade the status of Palestine to a non-member observer state, we appreciate the president’s pledge to continue to work to achieve peace through a “just agreement between the parties” that results in “a secure, Jewish state of Israel; and an independent, prosperous Palestine.”

We hope to see the president’s strong words translated into meaningful leadership and diplomacy in the months ahead.