WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Israel Policy Forum faulted the new Israeli government for failing to endorse a two-state solution.
The statement from the dovish pro-Israel group formally welcomed the new government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, but noted that it "has yet to embrace the two-state vision, and that the new Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has stated his opposition to the continuation of the Annapolis-launched peace talks.
"We support President Obama in his stated desire to actively engage in diplomacy to pursue a two-state solution, and urge Israel to follow his lead," the statement continued.
IPF in recent months has published two policy papers, one signed by leading Israelis and one by leading former U.S. political and diplomatic officials, encouraging aggressive U.S. peacemaking and a more "pragmatic" Israeli and U.S. posture toward Hamas, the terrorist group controlling the Gaza Strip.
Among the signatories of the Israeli paper are Alon Pinkas, the president of the U.S.-Israel Institute and an informal foreign policy adviser to Netanyahu.
