Daniel Pipes

WASHINGTON (JTA) — A number of conservative Republicans in Congress have launched a pro-Israel caucus predicated on getting the Palestinians to acknowledge defeat.

The co-chairs of the new Israel Victory Caucus, Reps. Bill Johnson of Ohio and Ron DeLantis of Florida, were among those on hand for Thursday’s launch. A number of other Republicans stopped by to express support; no Democrats spoke.

“We believe Israel has been victorious in the war and that this reality must be recognized for any peace to be achieved between Israel and its neighbors,” Johnson said.

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An array of conservative pro-Israel groups was represented, including the Middle East Forum, the Zionist Organization of America, Emet, Christians United for Israel and Americans for a Safe Israel.

Daniel Pipes, the Middle East Forum president, who recently laid out the theory that imposing defeat on the Palestinians was the likelier path to peace, said decades of negotiations assuming neither side had won had resulted in a “war process” instead of a peace process.

“Victory means imposing your will on your enemy,” Pipes said.

Liberal groups slammed the Israel Victory Caucus, with J Street, the liberal pro-Israel lobby, advising to “stay as far away from such savage and dangerous ideas as possible.”

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