APN to Netanyahu and Abbas: Engage Seriously with Kerry's Plan

“If all stakeholders engage in earnest, we believe this new American initiative could, at last, shatter the malignant status quo and make 2014 a year of transition toward a more peaceful, secure Middle East, starting in Jerusalem.” - APN’s President and CEO Debra DeLee

http://peacenow.org/

(WASHINGTON, DC) - Americans for Peace Now (APN) welcomes news that Secretary of State John Kerry will in the coming days present Israeli and Palestinian leaders with an outline for a peace deal. APN urges Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to seriously engage with Kerry’s initiative, in order to achieve a breakthrough for peace.

APN’s President and CEO Debra DeLee said: “Secretary Kerry deserves enormous credit for his tenacity and personal engagement in efforts to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace. The news that he will soon put forward an outline for a peace agreement is just the latest signal that Secretary Kerry, with the support of President Obama, remains both committed to and undaunted in this effort. While the details of the U.S. proposal remain unknown, we strongly welcome this extraordinary level of engagement and effort by the Obama Administration. We hope Secretary Kerry and his very able team of experts and officials will remain energetically engaged in the coming period, as we near the home-stretch of the 9-month negotiating effort launched last summer.

"President Obama's and Secretary Kerry's readiness to take political risks by intensifying America’s role in Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy must now be matched by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. We urge them both to display courageous leadership and the political will necessary to truly serve their own publics, by engaging seriously with Secretary Kerry's initiative in order to secure the peaceful future that both Israelis and Palestinians deserve.

“If all stakeholders engage in earnest, we believe this new American initiative could, at last, shatter the malignant status quo and make 2014 a year of transition toward a more peaceful, secure Middle East, starting in Jerusalem.”

Americans for Peace Now is the sister organization of Shalom Achshav, Israel's preeminent peace movement. APN's mission is to educate and persuade the American public and its leadership to support and adopt policies that will lead to comprehensive, durable, Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab peace, based on a two-state solution, guaranteeing both peoples security, and consistent with U.S. national interests.