House Democrats have put together a letter that they hope will unite their entire caucus in warning Israel against annexation of part of the West Bank.
The letter, now circulating among the party’s House caucus and obtained exclusively by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, warns Israel about the dangers annexation would pose to Israelis and to the region. But it does not hint at any danger to the US-Israel relationship and restates the signers’ commitment to the relationship.
The House formulation comes just weeks after a letter with much tougher language failed to garner a majority of the Democratic caucus in the Senate. It seeks to reconcile two competing interests for Democrats: sounding off about a looming annexation that the party believes would be disastrous for the Middle East, and not alienating the centrist pro-Israel movement, still seen as a critical component of support for Democrats in an election year.
“Unilateral annexation would likely jeopardize Israel’s significant progress on normalization with Arab states at a time when closer cooperation can contribute to countering shared threats,” reads the letter, sent Monday afternoon to every Democratic member in the US House of Representatives.
“Unilateral annexation risks insecurity in Jordan, with serious ancillary risks to Israel,” it says. “Finally, unilateral annexation could create serious problems for Israel with its European friends and other partners around the world. We do not see how any of these acute risks serve the long-term interest of a strong, secure Israel.”
The letter concludes: “As committed partners in supporting and protecting the special US-Israel relationship, we express our deep concern with the stated intention to move ahead with any unilateral annexation of West Bank territory, and we urge your government to reconsider plans to do so.”
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