Image by wikimedia

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Twenty-one right-wing Israeli lawmakers rebuffed a House bill that endorsed a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict while rejecting efforts to boycott the Jewish state.

In a letter addressed to U.S. Reps. Brad Schneider, Lee Zeldin, Jerry Nadler and Ann Wagner, the co-sponsors of the bill and staunch supporters of Israel, the Israeli lawmakers asserted that a Palestinian state is “far more dangerous to Israel” than BDS.

House Resolution 246, which passed 398-17 last month, condemned the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting Israel.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

While the signatories, who included Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely and Deputy Defense Minister Eli Ben Dahan, wrote that they were “grateful to all our wonderful friends in Congress who stand with us on so many fronts,” they insisted that they had to express their “concern” over the bill.

“Pressure to establish a Palestinian state contradicts President Trump’s position, which he has stated many times — that the solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict shall be determined by the parties,” they wrote.

Such a state would “undoubtedly be a dysfunctional terrorist state” which would “undermine stability” in the region and “severely damage the national security of both Israel and the United States.”

The Israeli lawmakers added that they understood that “these resolutions are accompanied by many compromises along the way in order to reach a language agreed upon by a majority,” but that affirming “support for establishing a Palestinian state is so dangerous that we respectfully request that you take that into consideration” and avoid such language in the future.

According to The Jerusalem Post, the impetus for the letter came from the Knesset Land of Israel Caucus and Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan.

“Unfortunately, in the last few years, AIPAC is independently advancing the two-state solution,” Dagan said in a statement.

“AIPAC portrays the two-state concept as an Israeli interest to elected officials in America and as the official position of the Israeli government, even though this is untrue,” he said.

Jerusalem recently advanced plans for the construction of more than 2,300 housing units in West Bank settlements and The Times of Israel reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is looking to obtain public support from President Donald Trump to apply Israeli sovereignty in some areas of the West Bank.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’re in the middle of our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we have a very ambitious goal of $127,000 by April 21.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Make a Passover Gift Today!

$90 $180

$360

Other amount