The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) issued a statement Tuesday rebuking President Joe Biden for trying to pressure Israel into accepting a Palestinian state as an outcome of the war started by Hamas, saying that would reward the terrorist organization.
Support for a Palestinian state has collapsed among Israelis — from 61% in favor in 2012 to 65% opposed today. The reason: given a chance to govern Gaza after Israel withdrew from the territory in 2005, Palestinians instead used it to launch attacks on Israel.
Palestinian leaders, at home and abroad, have done almost nothing to prepare for statehood, but have instead diverted funds and resources into terrorism and anti-Israel propaganda. Yet the Biden administration continues to push for Palestinian statehood.
There is little evidence that Palestinians themselves want a Palestinian state, except as a stepping stone to destroy and replace Israel “from the river to the sea” and to kill its Jewish population. Nor is it clear what kind of state a Palestinian state would be.
In a statement by RJC National Chairman Senator Norm Coleman and Chief Executive Officer Matt Brooks, the RJC declared:
Genuine solidarity with Israel requires a clear understanding of the difficult realities confronting the people and government of the Jewish state. Today, Israel is at war against the monstrous terrorists who perpetrated the October 7th atrocities, dozens of Israelis remain captives of Hamas, and no Palestinian faction has condemned the horror that led to the current crisis.
In these circumstances, Israelis across the political spectrum are united behind the objectives of eradicating Hamas as a threat to Israel and securing the return of all the hostages. Until those objectives are accomplished, pressuring the Jewish state to make irreversible and potentially perilous long-term diplomatic commitments is a grave failure to live up to America’s proud history of standing with Israel against its deadly enemies.
The Biden administration vaguely admits that the Palestinian Authority is not currently up to the job of administering a Palestinian state when it says that the PA must be “reformed” or “revitalized.” But let’s be clear: As long as the Palestinian Authority is still rewarding terrorist murderers through its massive “pay-for-slay” subsidies and refusing to condemn the October 7th atrocities, it remains unfit to administer a Palestinian state.
Israel has proven its willingness to make peace over and over again. The Palestinians, very much including the Palestinian Authority, have repeatedly rejected efforts to make peace. The Biden administration’s diplomatic efforts will fail if they are based on a denial of that history and a refusal to admit the catastrophic failings of today’s Palestinian leadership.
The Biden administration is wrong to assume that Jewish Americans support its pressure on Israel. We urge members of Congress to use all the tools at their disposal to push back against the Biden administration’s misguided efforts and prevent the nightmare scenario of a terrorist state on Israel’s borders.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he will not allow a Palestinian state as long as he remains in office.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the 2021 e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now updated with a new foreword. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.