The leftist organization J Street on Thursday welcomed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s decision to back down from applying sovereignty over Judea and Samaria as part of the agreement to normalize ties with the United Arab Emirates.
“This decision by Prime Minister Netanyahu signals a major retreat from repeated threats to carry out de jure annexation, and indicates that efforts to oppose annexation — in Israel, the US and around the world — have achieved significant success,” the group said in a statement.
“Annexation would be disastrous for Israeli security and democracy and for Palestinian rights. Clarification will be needed that this is not simply a short-term suspension of a disastrous idea, and the United States and the international community should be demanding that Israel commit permanently not to proceed with any unilateral annexation,” it added.
“The agreement between Israel and the UAE to move toward fully normalized ties is also welcome news for all who wish to see a stable and prosperous Israel living in peace and security alongside all of its regional neighbors. It is just the latest evidence that dialogue and diplomacy, rather than unilateral action and belligerence, are the route to long-term security.”
J Street insisted, however, “Comprehensive peace between Israel and its neighbors in the Arab world, however, will only be achieved through an agreement that resolves the issues at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and leads to the establishment of a viable and independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. Steps toward normalization with the UAE are a positive development, but no substitute for a full and comprehensive agreement, bringing peace to Israel and its neighbors.”
The left-leaning lobby group J Street has in the past warned that the US administration’s support for the application of Israeli sovereignty over Israeli towns in Judea and Samaria would constitute a “disaster”.