WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to extend Israeli civil law into some Israeli communities and areas critical for Israel’s security such as the Jordan Valley, as envisioned by President Trump’s Vision for Peace, U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) and his colleagues sent a letter today supporting the Vision for Peace and its continued implementation, including the Israeli decision.

“The Vision for Peace was designed to finally and irreversibly establish a realistic basis for securing a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinian people, in opposition to the spirit and letter of UNSCR 2334,” the Senators wrote. “For instance, the Vision for Peace contemplates the United States recognizing the extension of Israeli civil law into areas that are controlled and will continue to be controlled by Israel as a matter of simple reality, and in the process you secured unprecedented concessions for the Palestinians, including Israeli acknowledgement of maps outlining a future Palestinian state.”

The Senators continued, “Mr. President, there is no other alternative to this fact-based approach, and as long as opponents of Israel and of the U.S.-Israel relationship believe otherwise, peace will not be achievable … Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently announced that the Israeli government will extend Israeli civil law into some of its territories. It is the sovereign decision of our Israeli allies whether or not they do so, but of course their decision takes place against the backdrop of the Vision for Peace and its assurances of American recognition, which are critical to locking in the progress your administration has made reversing the Obama-Biden legacy, restoring the U.S.-Israeli relationship, and establishing a realistic basis for peace.”

The full letter can be read here and below.

Dear Mr. President:

We write to congratulate you on the continued progress of the “Vision for Peace, Prosperity, and a Brighter Future for Israel and the Palestinian People,” to express our support for its ongoing implementation including the extension of Israeli civil law into Israeli communities and areas critical for Israel’s security such as the Jordan Valley, and to commit to providing your administration with the resources it requires for such implementation.

As you know, the Obama-Biden administration used the period between November 8, 2016 and January 20, 2017 to undermine the U.S.-Israel relationship and erode Israel’s sovereignty. In December 2016, the Obama-Biden administration maneuvered into passage United Nations Security Council resolution (UNSCR) 2334, which among other things effectively declared it was illegal for Israeli Jews to build in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem and severed the Jewish State’s links to many of Judaism’s holiest places. The resolution called on “all States… to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between” territories Israel controlled before and after 1967, condemned Israeli activities in “the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem,” and foreclosed recognition of “any changes to the 4 June 1967 lines, including with regard to Jerusalem” except with Palestinian approval.

You harshly criticized UNSCR 2334 before and after it passed, and vowed to reverse it. On December 22, 2016 you wrote that it “should be vetoed” because it would undermine the prospects for peace, “put[] Israel in a very poor negotiating position,” and be “extremely unfair to all Israelis.” After it passed you wrote that the Obama-Biden administration had badly undermined U.S. support for Israel, that “things will be different after Jan. 20th” regarding the U.N., and that the U.S. “cannot continue to let Israel be treated with such total disdain and disrespect.”

Indeed when you took office you undertook systematic steps to begin rendering UNSCR 2334 null and void, broadly by refusing to distinguish between various Israeli territories in the United States’ relevant dealings, and more specifically by acknowledging the reality and – as a matter of America’s national security interests, often the desirability – of Israeli control over some territories occupied since 1967. Within a year your administration put the U.N. Security Council on notice that “[g]iven the chance to vote again on Resolution 2334… [the U.S.] would exercise our veto power.” You and your administration had by then already recognized the reality that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital, and subsequently moved our embassy there, acknowledged Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, ensured that U.S. officials could engage their Israeli counterparts in the Old City of Jerusalem, and rejected the position that all Israeli communities beyond the June 1967 lines are illegal under international law.

The Vision for Peace was designed to finally and irreversibly establish a realistic basis for securing a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinian people, in opposition to the spirit and letter of UNSCR 2334. For instance, the Vision for Peace contemplates the United States recognizing the extension of Israeli civil law into areas that are controlled and will continue to be controlled by Israel as a matter of simple reality, and in the process you secured unprecedented concessions for the Palestinians, including Israeli acknowledgement of maps outlining a future Palestinian state.

Mr. President, there is no other alternative to this fact-based approach, and as long as opponents of Israel and of the U.S.-Israel relationship believe otherwise, peace will not be achievable.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently announced that the Israeli government will extend Israeli civil law into some of its territories. It is the sovereign decision of our Israeli allies whether or not they do so, but of course their decision takes place against the backdrop of the Vision for Peace and its assurances of American recognition, which are critical to locking in the progress your administration has made reversing the Obama-Biden legacy, restoring the U.S.-Israeli relationship, and establishing a realistic basis for peace. 

We again commend you and your administration for the progress you have made, and stand ready to assist in ensuring the successful implementation of the Vision for Peace.

Sincerely, 

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