NEW YORK (Press Release)- The Jewish Council for Public Affairs welcomed the Obama administration’s call, made by Deputy National Security Advisor Anthony Blinken, that Gaza should be demilitarized as part of a future cease fire agreement to end the current conflict with Israel. The remarks came during an interview with NPR where Blinken said “There has to be some way forward that does not involve Hamas having the ability to continue to rain down rockets on Israeli civilians.”
“The latest conflict between Hamas and Israel should be proof to the world that Hamas places a higher priority on killing and terrorizing Israelis than it does on improving the lives of Gazans,” said JCPA President Rabbi Steve Gutow. “A demilitarized Gaza could emerge from this crisis as a focus of economic development and a beacon of hope, rather than a place of despair and violence. Gaza could at long last be the springboard for a Palestinian state and not a demonstration of the worst about it.”
“To truly guarantee the security of Israel and establish the grounds for a lasting peace, demilitarization must include a credible monitoring mechanism,” said JCPA Chair Susan W. Turnbull. “We know that Hamas has redirected humanitarian supplies, such as cement, toward terrorist purposes including dozens of tunnels stretching well into Israeli territory for the purpose of carrying out terrorist attacks and kidnappings. That both robs the people of Gaza of opportunity and makes peace harder to achieve. We pray for the conflict to end soon and welcome this call from the Obama administration to ensure that the future for the people of Israel and Gaza is a peaceful one.”
Similarly, the Conference of Presidents leaders, Robert G. Sugarman, Chairman, and Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman, welcomed the call by Deputy National Security Advisor, Anthony Blinken, for the demilitarization of Gaza as part of any cease fire agreement with Israel.
“This is, as Mr. Blinken noted, the only step that can stop the pattern of past years which saw Hamas violate every agreement and use the interim periods to build up its military capacity, stock pile weapons, and most recently, dig tunnels deep into Israel. All of this, at the expense of the people of Gaza.”
“Hamas cannot be allowed to emerge from this latest war, which has exposed the extent of its efforts to destroy Israel, from more sophisticated and deadly rockets in the sky to tunnels deep beneath the earth, with the ability to resume its devastating cause. By removing missiles and weapons from Gaza, a long term, constructive peace becomes possible and paves the way for meaningful negotiations,” said Sugarman and Hoenlein.
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Preceding provided by the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations