Group’s CEO Jonathan Greenblatt urges GOP to use similar language to reflect bipartisan consensus on Israel
The Anti-Defamation League commended the Democratic National Convention’s draft party platform Wednesday for opposing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel and supporting America’s commitment to Israel’s security and a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“The draft platform rightly frames a negotiated two state solution as in the interests of both Israel’s ‘future as a secure and democratic Jewish state’ and a Palestinian future of ‘independence, sovereignty and dignity,’” ADL chief Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement. “We urge the full platform committee and Democratic National Committee delegates to support it.”
The platform, ADL’s national chair Marvin Nathan said: “Affirmed the Democrats’ and America’s longstanding commitment to Israel’s security and to Israel’s fundamental rights and enshrined key principles of its quest for peace with the Palestinians through a directly negotiated” two-state agreement.
“A debate in which progressive values loomed large appropriately produced a platform highlighting shared values like ‘democracy, equality, tolerance and pluralism’ as undergirding US support for Israel’s rights and security,” he added.
In its press release, the group described the platform’s condemnation of BDS as “breaking new ground.” Reports have said it states the party vows to “oppose any effort to delegitimize Israel, including at the United Nations or through the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement.”
The committee deliberated Friday over an amendment proposed by James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute and a Bernie Sanders appointee to the committee, that would have called for “an end to occupation and illegal settlements.”
Zogby’s amendment was defeated, and the group decided to adopt language more in tune with the party’s presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton’s views on the issue. The draft platform instead articulates the Democrats’ vision as seeking a two-state outcome that ensures both Israel’s security within recognized borders and grants the Palestinians with sovereignty and self-determination.
The ADL said it “looks forward to similarly strong and unifying language in the Republican platform so that both platforms reflect America’s strong bipartisan support for Israel.”
As reported by The Times of Israel