“NO!” To a Unilaterally Declared Palestinian State

At a recent meeting, the JINSA Board of Directors adopted a resolution that read, in part:

Whereas the Israel-PLO Interim Agreement of 28 September 1995, “Neither side shall initiate or take any step that will change the status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip pending the outcome of the permanent status negotiations.” Whereas the United States is a witness to that Agreement.

At a recent meeting, the JINSA Board of Directors adopted a resolution that read, in part:

Whereas the Israel-PLO Interim Agreement of 28 September 1995, “Neither side shall initiate or take any step that will change the status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip pending the outcome of the permanent status negotiations.” Whereas the United States is a witness to that Agreement. The Board of Directors of JINSA resolves to urge the government of the United States to inform the Palestinian Authority that it will not recognize a unilaterally declared State of Palestine in May 1999, or at any other time.

We are pleased to see Rep. Jim Saxton, Rep. Matt Salmon and Majority Whip Tom DeLay submitting a resolution in Congress that reads in part:

Whereas the United States has traditionally opposed the unilateral declaration of a Palestinian State because of concerns that such a State could pose a threat to Israel and could have a destabilizing effect on the entire Middle East; Whereas the United States stated its position, after Israel and the Palestinians signed the Oslo Accords, that all questions of Palestinian sovereignty and statehood are matters which must be mutually agreed upon by the parties;

Whereas the Palestinian Cabinet on 24 September 1998 stated, “at the end of the interim period, it (the Palestinian government) shall declare the establishment of a Palestinian state on all Palestinian land occupied since 1967, with Jerusalem as the eternal capital of the Palestinian State;”

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), that it is the sense of the Congress that

1. Israel, and Israel alone, can determine its security needs; 2. The final status of the Palestinian entity can only be determined through bilateral negotiations and agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority; 3. The President must reaffirm that any such unilateral declaration of a Palestinian State would be a grievous violation of the Oslo Accords, would seriously impede any possibility of advancing the peace process, and would have severe negative consequences for Palestinian relations with the United States; and 4. The President should now publicly and unequivocally state that the United States will actively oppose such a unilateral declaration and will not extend recognition to any unilaterally declared Palestinian State.

The Palestinians have consistently failed to adhere to the terms of the Oslo Accords – a unilateral declaration of statehood would be the ultimate failure. A strong bipartisan majority in Congress should support the Saxton/Salmon/DeLay Resolution.