Jewish people throughout the centuries have empathized with those who are suffering and who are oppressed because we have known so much of that ourselves. As the Torah teaches us, every human life is precious. Every single innocent life lost, whether Israeli or Palestinian, is a tragedy, as the scripture says, "destroys an entire world." What horrifies so many Jews, especially, is our sense that Israel is falling short of upholding these distinctly Jewish values that we hold so dear. We must be better than our enemies lest we become them.
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And now, as a result of those inflamed tensions in both Israeli and Palestinian communities, people on all sides of this war are turning away from the two-state solution, including Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who in recent weeks has said out loud repeatedly what many have long suspected by outright rejecting the idea of Palestinian statehood and sovereignty. As the highest ranking Jewish elected official in our government and as a staunch defender of Israel, I rise today to say unequivocally: this is a grave mistake, for Israel, for Palestinians, for the region and for the world. The only real and sustainable solution to this decades-old conflict is a negotiated two-state solution, a demilitarized Palestinian state living side-by-side with Israel in equal measures of peace, security, prosperity, dignity and mutual recognition.
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Jews have a human right to their own state just as any other people do, Palestinians included. As I have said, there are also some Israelis who oppose even a two-state solution with a demilitarized Palestinian state because they fear that it might tolerate or be a harbor for further terrorism against the Jewish state. I understand these fears, but the bitter reality is that a single state, controlled by Israel, which they advocate, guarantees certain war forever and further isolation of the Jewish community in the world to the extent that its future would be jeopardized. Let me elaborate. They say the definition on insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. If Israel were to not only maintain the status quo, but to go beyond that and tighten its control over Gaza and the West Bank, as some in the Netanyahu administration have suggested, in effect creating a de facto single state, then what reasonable expectation can we have that Hamas and their allies will lay down their arms? It would mean constant war. On top of that, Israel moving closer to a single state entirely under its control would further rupture its relationship with the rest of the world, including the United States. Support for Israel has declined worldwide in the last few months, and this trend will only get worse if the Israeli government continues down its current path.
~ Sen. Charles Schumer, speech before Senate, March 14, 2024
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