AJC Praises President Obama's Commitment to Quest for Arab-Israeli Peace and Israel's Security

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Sep 23, 2010, 12:57 ET

NEW YORK, Sept. 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC praised President Obama's commitment to achieve a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, set forth in this morning's important address to the UN General Assembly.

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"We appreciate President Obama's efforts to revive direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and his steadfastness in seeking to sustain the current talks until they are successfully completed," said AJC Executive Director David Harris. "The history of Arab-Israeli peacemaking demonstrates that only direct talks can achieve durable agreements, as witnessed between Israel and both Egypt and Jordan."

Harris praised President Obama for emphasizing Israel's legitimacy to the world leaders gathered in the UN General Assembly hall.

"Israel's existence must not be a subject for debate," said President Obama. "Israel is a sovereign state, and the historic homeland of the Jewish people."

Obama also made clear that "efforts to chip away at Israel's legitimacy will only be met by the unshakable opposition of the United States."

AJC welcomed the president's reaffirmation of the U.S. commitment to Israel's security and quest for peace, and his call on Arab countries to support the peace process with their own confidence-building measures.

"Given the fact that the main obstacle to peace has been, and regrettably remains, broad Arab refusal to recognize Israel's very legitimacy, President Obama's words today are significant messages that for the sake of peace need to be internalized across the Arab and Muslim world," Harris said.

AJC has long been supportive of a negotiated two-state solution that embraces the core principle of two nations for two peoples.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee