Pod Save America Hosts Call on Democrats to Cut All Israel Military Aid, No Longer Accept AIPAC Funding
Jews, Israelis Targeted in Austria Amid Surge in Antisemitic Incidents; Local Jewish Community Calls for Action
‘All of Our Strength’: Over 1,000 Pro-Israel Activists Gather in DC for Solidarity Conference
‘Devastated’: Wesley LePatner, Killed in Manhattan Mass Shooting, Was a Jewish Communal, Philanthropic Leader
Sen. Angus King Vows to No Longer Vote for Israel Military Aid Until Gaza Conditions Improve
Europe Won’t Pressure Israel to ‘Commit Suicide’ Amid Gaza Backlash, Palestinian State Push, Says Israeli FM
Israel’s National Soccer Coach Attacked in Athens Before Soccer Fans Chant ‘F–K Israel, Free Palestine’ at Match
New York Judge Sentences Neo-Nazi to 5 Years for Livestreaming Bomb Threats Against Jewish Hospitals
US Pressures Lebanon to Issue Cabinet Decision to Disarm Hezbollah Before Talks Continue
UK Plans to Recognize Palestinian State in September Unless Israel Meets Conditions, Starmer Says
Democratic Senator Hopes Gantz Can Caution Netanyahu Against Annexation
Error: Contact form not found.
by JNS.org
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.). Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
JNS.org – Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) said on Tuesday that he hopes Blue and White leaders Benny Gantz and Gabi Ashkenazi—Israel’s new defense minister and foreign minister, respectively—will persuade Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to move forward with annexing parts of the West Bank.
“My hope would be that Ashkenazi as foreign minister and Gantz as defense minister—in what will be internal deliberations—given their deep experience in the [Israel Defense Forces] and given the security consequences of an abrupt move, would caution [Netanyahu] against some significant step like this,” said Coons, a member of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
He commented on the issue during a webinar hosted by the Jewish Democratic Council of America that also included former US Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken, who is currently serving as senior foreign-policy advisor for presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
Regarding how a Biden administration might react to West Bank annexation, Coons said “it’s hard to exactly prejudge the circumstances on the ground as of January of next year, and we only have one president at a time.”
Blinken said he is “not going to prejudge what we might do or not do in the context of a Biden administration,” as “lots of things can happen between now and then.”
Nonetheless, he reiterated the fact that the former vice president “has been literally opposed to annexation” and has been “on the record several times [that] unilateral steps taken by either side that makes the prospect of a negotiated to a two-state outcome less likely is something he opposes, and that includes annexation.”
