Today J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami released the following statement in response to Speaker Boehner’s announcement that he will invite Prime Minister Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress:
J Street is pleased that the Speaker of the House John Boehner has announced his intention to invite the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress during his upcoming visit to the United States in May. We are very hopeful that the Prime Minister will take this opportunity to put forward a proactive, far-reaching proposal for a resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in line with the internationally-accepted parameters for a two-state solution. J Street believes it is incumbent on both the United States and Israel to press forward toward achieving Palestinian statehood and long-term security for Israel in advance of a possible United Nations vote recognizing a Palestinian state in September. We are very pleased as well to understand that the President of the United States is considering a speech in the coming weeks which would put forward parameters or principles for a two-state resolution. We continue to urge the President to visit Israel in order to connect with the Israeli people and to put forward his ideas both to Israelis and in a parallel address to the Palestinians.