Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) President Morton A. Klein and ZOA Chairman Mark Levenson, Esq. released the following statement:
The ZOA praises the following aspects of President Trump’s “Peace to Prosperity” Plan:
1. The Plan acknowledges that the territory that Israel is being asked to transfer is “territory to which Israel has asserted valid legal and historical claims, and which are part of the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people.” (p. 8)
2. The Plan acknowledges that, under UN Security Council Resolution 242, Israel is not legally bound to provide the Palestinians with 100% of pre-1967 territory, and that Israel has already withdrawn from 88% of the territory Israel captured in 1967. (pp. 8 & 11-12)
3. The Plan states that Israel will not have to uproot any settlements [Jewish communities in Judea-Samaria where 450,000 Jews live]. (p. 12) (Note: We can never repeat the disaster that resulted when 10,000 Jews were uprooted from their homes and communities in Gaza and Northern Samaria. Thriving Jewish farms and communities became Hamas rocket launching pads, and many uprooted Jews were left homeless and jobless for years.)
4. The vast majority of settlements (approximately 97% of Israelis in Judea-Samaria) will be incorporate into contiguous Israel territory (p. 12) Israelis in the remaining 3% of Judea-Samaria can remain in their homes if they wish and will remain subject to Israeli civilian administration, have access routes and security protection. (p. 12)
(The inclusion of this point should not be construed as ZOA supporting giving away to this regime parts of Judea-Samaria, but is a recognition and appreciation of President Trump’s acknowledging the importance and legal, religious, political and historic rights of Jews to have established these Jewish communities.)
5. The Jordan Valley will be under Israeli sovereignty. (p. 13)
6. Israel will retain sovereignty over territorial waters. (p. 13)
7. The Plan calls for full demilitarization of Gaza, Hamas, PIJ (Palestinian Islamic Jihad), and other militias and terror groups; and placing a body acceptable to Israel in control of Gaza. This is required prior to Israeli implementation of peace agreement obligations. (pp. 13 & 26)
8. The Plan acknowledges the long Jewish religious and historical connection to Jerusalem, saying:
For Judaism, Jerusalem is where Mount Moriah is located. According to Jewish tradition, it was there that Abraham nearly sacrificed his son, Isaac, until God intervened. Centuries later, Jerusalem became the political center of the Jewish people when King David united the twelve tribes of Israel, making the city the capital and spiritual center of the Jewish people, which it has remained for nearly 3,000 years. King David’s son, King Solomon, built the First Temple on Mount Moriah. According to Jewish tradition, inside the Temple, within the Holy of Holies, were stored the original Ten Commandments, revealed by God to Moses at Mount Sinai. The First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. The Second Temple was built atop the same mountain and stood until it was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. However, Jerusalem never lost its holiness to the Jewish People: It remains the direction to which Jews throughout the world turn in prayer and the destination of Jewish pilgrimage. Every year, on the 9th day of the Jewish month of Av, Jews fast, mourn and commemorate the destruction of the two Temples. Although Jews pray today at the Western Wall, which was a retaining wall of the Second Temple, the Temple Mount itself is the holiest site in Judaism. There are nearly 700 separate references to Jerusalem in the Hebrew Bible. For 100 generations the hopes and dreams of the Jewish people have been encapsulated by the words “Next Year in Jerusalem.” (p. 15)
9. The Plan praises Israel “for safeguarding the religious sites of all” for the past 50 years. (p. 16)
10. The Plan acknowledges the Jewish people’s right to pray on the Temple Mount, saying:
“Jerusalem’s holy sites should remain open and available for peaceful worshippers and tourists of all faiths. People of every faith should be permitted to pray on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, in a manner that is fully respectful to their religion, taking into account the times of each religion’s prayers and holidays, as well as other religious factors.”
11. The Plan states that “Jerusalem will remain the sovereign capital of the State of Israel” and should remain an undivided city.
12. The Plan states that: “The embassy of the United States to the State of Israel will remain in Jerusalem.”
13. The Plan calls for Israel to maintain overall security responsibility in the Palestinian areas. (p. 21)
14. The Plan calls for full demilitarization of any Palestinian State and Gaza. (p. 22)
15. The Plan calls for Palestinians to “demonstrate both a clear intention and a sustained capacity to fight terrorism,” to be determined by Israel.
16. The Plan calls for all Israeli captives and remains be returned to Israel. (p. 26)
17. The Plan states that Hamas must “adopt[] the Quartet principles, which include unambiguously and explicitly recognizing the State of Israel, committing to nonviolence, and accepting previous agreements and obligations between the parties, including the disarming of all terrorist groups,” prior to playing any role in a Palestinian government.” (p. 26)
18. The Plan recognizes that Palestinian refugees shall be settled outside of Israel, saying:.
“The Israeli-Palestinian Peace Agreement shall provide for a complete end and release of any and all claims relating to refugee or immigration status. There shall be no right of return by, or absorption of, any Palestinian refugee into the State of Israel.” (p. 32)
19. The Plan further speaks about how Palestinian refugees have been used as pawns for decades to continue the conflict, and calls for absorption of Palestinian refugees into a state of Palestine, current host countries, or, to a limited extent, OIC countries. (p. 31-32)
20. The Plan recognizes that Jewish refugees who suffered and were driven out of Muslim lands need to be compensated, saying:
“The Jewish refugees who were forced to flee Arab and Muslim countries also suffered. Most settled in the State of Israel and some settled elsewhere. The Jewish refugee issue, including compensation for lost assets, must also be addressed. Additionally, the State of Israel deserves compensation for the costs of absorbing Jewish refugees from those countries. A just, fair and realistic solution for the issues relating to Jewish refugees must be implemented through an appropriate international mechanism separate from the Israel-Palestinian Peace Agreement.” (p. 31)
21. The Plan states that prior to the formation of any Palestinian state, the Palestinians must be determined by the U.S. and Israel to have complied with conditions including implementing human rights protections, and ending its anti-Israel incitement, including its incitement against Israel in schools and textbooks. Specifically:
“The Palestinians shall have ended all programs, including school curricula and textbooks, that serve to incite or promote hatred or antagonism towards its neighbors, or which compensate or incentivize criminal or violent activity.” (p. 34)
22. Anti-Israel incitement has always been a key impediment to peace. The Plan also reiterates its calls for an end to Palestinian anti-Israel incitement, in media and other venues saying:
“The creation of a culture of peace should include an end to incitement, including in government-controlled media, as well as an end to the glorification of violence, terrorism and martyrdom. It should also prohibit hostile propaganda, as well as textbooks, curriculum and related materials contrary to the goal of the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Agreement, including the denial of one another’s right to exist.” (p. 35)
23. The Plan calls for the Palestinians to recognize “the State of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people.” (p. 37)
24. The Plan calls for an “end to all claims.” (p. 38) No more coming back and demanding more concessions from Israel.
25. The Plan calls for the Palestinians to dismiss their pending actions against the Israel, the U.S. and their citizens “at the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, and all other tribunals,” and initiate no new actions. (p. 39)
26. The Plan calls for Palestinians to immediately and completely cease their horrendous “pay to slay” “martyr payments” to Arab terrorists to murder Jews. (p. 39)
27. The Plan calls for Arab countries and the Palestinians to “cease to support anti-Israel initiatives at the United Nations and in other multilateral bodies” including efforts to delegitimize the State of Israel. (p. 36)
28. The Plan also calls for Arab countries and the Palestinians to end anti-Israel boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) and other boycotts. (p. 36)
29. The Plan states that “The United States will strongly encourage Arab countries to begin to normalize their relations with the State of Israel and negotiate lasting peace agreements.” (p 36)
30. Importantly, President Trump stated at today’s press conference that “the United States will recognize Israeli sovereignty over the territory that my Plan provides to be part of the State of Israel.” We understand that this includes the Jordan Valley and 97% of the Jewish communities in Judea-Samaria, and that such U.S. recognition will occur soon after Israel exercises its sovereignty over these areas. We urge Israel to exercise its sovereignty promptly.
ZOA wants to remind everyone that the Palestinian-Arabs have rejected very generous offers for a Palestinian Arab state in 1937, 1947, 2000, 2001, 2008 and 2014, and never made a counter-offer. Further, during the 19 years when Judea-Samaria including eastern Jerusalem was illegally occupied by Jordan and Gaza was occupied by Egypt from 1948-1967, there was never a move or demand by Palestinian Arabs to create a Palestinian-Arab state in Judea-Samaria, Gaza and eastern Jerusalem which the Arabs controlled. The Palestinian Arabs never had demonstrations against or committed terrorists acts against Jordan and Egypt to create a Palestinian State. And the Palestinian Authority have now rejected this Plan, both prior to even seeing it, and again after seeing it, with vile curses. PA terrorist and corrupt dictator Mahmoud Abbas this week called President Trump “a dog and a son of a dog,” and “a sh*t person, a bastard,” and also called the U.S. government “a government of dogs.” This history makes it clear that the issue has never been establishing a Palestinian-Arab state, especially if it meant accepting the Jewish State of Israel. Today the terrorist regime known as the Palestinian Authority continues, under its formal laws, to pay Arabs with a substantial lifetime pension to them and their families to murder Jews. And the more Jews they murder, the greater their pension. The Palestinian-Arabs’ goal has always been and remains today, as always, harming, terrorizing and murdering Jews and Israel’s complete destruction and annihilation. ZOA hopes and prays that the Arab and Muslim religion Jew hatred against the Jewish State and the Jewish people will finally end for the benefit of both peoples and that the Palestinian Arabs and the Arab Muslim world will finally give peace a chance.
