U.S. Should Oppose Israeli Expansion Plan

June 26, 1998

Issue:

The Israeli Cabinet on June 21 approved a plan to expand the area under control of Jerusalem by roughly half, by annexing several Israeli towns and by bringing several Jewish settlements on West Bank land under an umbrella municipality. Prime Minister Netanyahu was quoted in the press as saying the plan is designed to "strengthen the Jewish majority in Jerusalem."

The plan sets in motion changes that would have a tremendous impact on the ground and would undoubtedly heighten tensions in an already tense environment. The potential for violent confrontation cannot be dismissed. The opening of the Hasmonean tunnel in 1996 was followed by four days of fighting that left nearly 100 people dead.

The question now is what the United States will do. The U.S. State Department has expressed its displeasure in unusually strong terms, calling the action "extremely provocative." But Prime Minister Netanyahu scoffed at the U.S. criticism, saying "those who make a fuss over the plan are the ones who undermine the [peace] process."

The United States needs to take firm steps to deter the Israeli expansion plan in order to prevent violent clashes and keep hope for renewed negotiations alive.

Action:

Write or fax your Senators, your Representative, and the Secretary of State. Make the following points:

• Israel should stop its expansionist plans. Israel must not be allowed to preempt final status negotiations on the status of Jerusalem.
• The U.S. Congress should stop encouraging the Israeli government in its assertion of exclusive sovereignty without regard to signed agreements or the Administration's admonitions.
• The United States should support, and must not veto, a United Nations Security Council response to Israel's action if one is initiated. Israel cannot be allowed to dismiss the applicability of international law to Jerusalem.
• Israel should respect the U.S. government's role in the peace process because of the closeness of the relationship and because of the $3 billion annual foreign aid package that Washington provides to Israel.

Write or Phone:

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
U.S. State Department
Washington, DC 20520
Fax: (202) 647-6434

Honorable ________
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Honorable ________
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Capitol switchboard: (202) 224-3121

In addition to contacting the Administration and members of Congress, express your views on radio call-in shows and through letters to the editor of your local newspaper.

Background:

The recent move by the Netanyahu government escalates a long-term Israeli strategy to decrease the Palestinian population in Jerusalem, a strategy that has taken many forms since the 1993 agreement to negotiate the future status of the city.

Ziad Abu Ziad, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, called the plan "part of the ethnic cleansing policy Israel is implementing against Arabs in east Jerusalem." In addition to the highly publicized takeovers of property by settlers in and near the Old City, the Jerusalem municipal government as a practice expels Palestinians by confiscating their Jerusalem identity cards. It also demolishes Palestinian homes, denies building permits to Palestinians and, through various means, causes the withering of Palestinian businesses and institutions in Jerusalem.

Many U.S. Presbyterians and other U.S. Christians support the principle of a shared Jerusalem. The Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian General Assembly, Clifton Kirkpatrick, has endorsed the "Call for a Shared Jerusalem" promoted by Churches for Middle East Peace. An ad containing the statement was published in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Cleveland Plain Dealer and Washington Post. The statement reads in part, "As Christians committed to working for peace, we support a negotiated solution for Jerusalem that respects the human and political rights of both Palestinians and Israelis, as well as the rights of the three religious communities. ... We urge the U.S. government to call upon negotiators to move beyond exclusivist claims and create a Jerusalem that is a sign of peace and a symbol of reconciliation for all humankind."

General Assembly Guidance:

The 210th General Assembly (1998) approved a resolution on "Peace and Christian Presence in Palestine and Israel." The resolution "Calls on the United States government to make continued aid and military assistance to Israel contingent on its fulfilling the terms of the Oslo Accords, including: (a) permanent termination of its efforts to expand the settlements; (b) expeditious turnover of territory to the Palestinian Authority; (c) negotiations on the status of Jerusalem under international guidelines."

In its resolution on the "Arab-Israeli Peace Process," the 1996 General Assembly "opposes all unilateral actions by Israel that change the demography and character of the city [of Jerusalem] to the detriment of the Palestinians."