The Republican Party’s platform committee resisted efforts to strip out language expressing support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Buzzfeed reports:
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The draft platform, written by the Romney campaign and committee aides states, "We envision two democratic states," which drew fire from several members of the platform committee.
Three separate amendments to the draft platform were offered and shot down after Sen. Jim Talent, a Romney surrogate who is tasked with ensuring the platform document is in line with Romney’s policy proposals, objected to each.
Minnesota delegate Kevin Erickson offered two of the amendments, which would have removed the line, replacing it with tough language on terrorism.
Erickson said he didn’t want to pressure the Israeli government by specifying the conditions of an ultimate peace.
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Talent reportedly quoted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to demonstrate that the original plaform language was consistent with the Israeli position. Buzzfeed notes that the language will still be voted o by the full Republican convention.
Earlier this year, the Republican National Committee adopted a resolution that some read as repudiating a two-state solution. At the time, an RNC spokesman stressed that the resolution did not represent the party’s position and that all that mattered was the party’s platform.
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