Letter to Condoleezza Rice
The Honorable Dr. Condoleezza Rice
National Security Advisor
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Dr. Rice:
Congratulations on your nomination by President Bush to become our
country’s Secretary of State.
As leaders in Jewish communities and organizations across the
United States, we are heartened by the strong ties you have
nurtured between our country and the State of Israel over the past
four years. And we are delighted because we know you will remain
true to the President’s vision, to which he recommitted himself on
November 12, of a “peaceful resolution of the Arab-Israeli
conflict based on two democratic states – Israel and Palestine –
living side-by-side in peace and security.”
Peace between Arabs and Israelis is a vital concern of all
Americans. A vigorous, American-led effort to turn this vision
into reality would encourage international support for America’s
broad Middle East policy and diminish anti-Americanism in the Arab
and Muslim world. America needs the partnership of other nations
to successfully wage war on terrorism and bring stability to Iraq.
There are many challenging paths to achieving our country’s
objectives in Baghdad and, we believe, one of them runs through
Jerusalem.
Dr. Rice, we know that you share our conviction that the strategic
concerns of the United States and Israel intersect at numerous
junctures. We believe that these two great democracies now share
a common interest in the emergence of a stronger, more democratic
Palestinian Authority. For that reason, we urge you to guide the
Administration’s foreign policy towards the following goals:
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The
empowerment of new moderate, pragmatic Palestinian leaders, so
that they can bring tangible improvements to the daily lives of
Palestinians right away. These include Israel’s easing of
restriction of movement for Palestinians in the West Bank,
allowing more Palestinians to work in Israel to support their
families and releasing additional funds to the Palestinian
Authority. We believe that all these steps can become feasible
if the Palestinians move quickly to bring order to their
security system so that they can end the option of violence by
terrorists and so that they can resume security cooperation with
Israel. But we also believe that they will need our help,
support, and guidance if they are to accomplish these goals.
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Elections
for the new president of the Palestinian Authority, scheduled to
take place on January 9th, that are fair and peaceful, so that
the results are accepted and the elected president has authority
to govern. A successful democratic election by the Palestinians
can only help in pointing the way to successful elections in
Iraq later that month.
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Helping
Israel to reorient its plan to unilaterally disengage from Gaza
and several settlements in the northern West Bank so that its
originally unilateral character is shifted towards a more
bilateral effort. Prime Minister Sharon has said that he plans
“to find every possible way in which the new Palestinian
leadership will be prepared to begin contacts so as to start
advancing our relations with the Palestinians.”
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Doing so is an integral component of making
sure that this historic withdrawal succeeds and this bilateral
approach, together with support from Egypt and the United States,
should ensure that it does. This withdrawal would then become an
important step toward reviving the Administration’s “Roadmap to
Peace.”
In
all these and all future activities by the Administration in the
Israeli-Palestinian arena, America’s ability to serve as a credible,
honest broker is
essential. We
therefore believe it is important to work with Palestinian, Egyptian,
Jordanian, and other Arab leaders, as well as our European allies, in
order to enable the Palestinians to mount a genuine and concerted
effort to prevent terrorist attacks against Israel. At the same time,
we believe this is the right time for Israel to fulfill its
commitments to stop settlement activity that it undertook to the
Administration in April 2004.
It
will take your ongoing, personal involvement, Dr. Rice, to reach this
noble and crucial goal, to create reality from President Bush’s
vision. We believe the Administration has the correct policy as
stated by the President. Although you enter office with a myriad of
pressing problems, we also believe that additional time and political
capital devoted to this issue will bring positive results. Otherwise,
a crucial opportunity may be lost, and dealing with the consequences
will take even more of your valuable time in the months to come.
We
pledge our personal, energetic, and public support for your efforts to
attain this objective, which is vital to the advancement of U.S.
interests in the region, not the least of which is the security of
Israel. That is why it is so important for all Americans to support
the Administation’s efforts in this regard. We are certain that the
vast majority of American Jews will. We will do our part to make sure
that they do. We stand ready to work with you and assist you in any
way we can to help take advantage of the change in Palestinian
leadership by doing our part to bring about a democratic Palestine at
peace with a secure Israel.
Sincerely,
Marvin Lender, CT, Seymour D. Reich,
NY, Rabbi Jon
Adland, IN, Dan Adler, CA, James B. Adler, MD, Karen R. Adler, NY,
David Arnow, NY, Thomas Barad, CA, Rabbi Karen Bender, CA, Rabbi
Laszlo Berkowits, VA, Rabbi Jonathan Biatch, CA, Rabbi Bruce S. Block,
NJ, Hyman Bookbinder, MD
Eli Broad, CA, Rabbi Herbert Brockman, CT, Rabbi Samuel G. Broude, CA,
Arthur Brown, VA, Leslie Brown, VA, Rabbi Stephen E. Cohen, CA, Rabbi
Neil Comess-Daniels, CA, Lester Crown, IL, Rabbi Jerome K. Davidson,
NY, Rabbi Lavey Derby, CA, Rabbi Richard L. Eisenberg, CT, Rabbi
Jerome M. Epstein, NY, Rabbi Ted Falcon, WA, Irwin S. Field, CA, Rabbi
Harvey J. Fields, CA, Sybil A. Fields, CA, Rabbi Wayne M. Franklin,
RI, Linda Gallanter, CA, Sanford Gallanter, CA, Susan Gelman, MD,
David Goldberg, OH, Rabbi Samuel N. Gordon, IL, Rabbi Fred Greene, CT
, Mimi Haas, CA, Gary Heiman, OH, Rabbi Steven B. Jacobs, CA, Rabbi
Howard L. Jaffe, NY, Peter Joseph, NY, Rabbi Raphael J. Kanter, MA,
Rabbi David Kirshner, NY, Jonathan Klein, WA, Rabbi Chava Koster, NY,
Rabbi Douglas E. Krantz, NY, Rabbi Benjamin Z. Kreitman, DC, Thomas
Kully, IL, Jacqueline Levine, NJ, Geoffrey Lewis, MA, Rabbi Janet B.
Liss, NY, Rabbi Brian Lurie, CA, Rabbi Harvey A. Manhoff, CA, Theodore
Mann, PA, Rabbi Bonnie Margulis, CA, Rabbi Avis D. Miller, DC, Rabbi
Robert Nosanchuk, VA, Alan Patricof, NY, Rabbi Stanley Platek, Rabbi
Norman T. Roman, MIMichele Rosen, WA, Dr. Henry Rosovsky, MA, Rabbi
David Saperstein, DC, Rabbi Dennis C. Sasso, IN, Rabbi Sandy E. Sasso,
IN, Steve Schatzman, VA, Alan Slifka, NY, Alan Solomont, MA, Michael
W. Sonnenfeldt, NY, Robert Spiegel, NY, Susan Spiegel, NY, Robert B.
Spitzer, WA,
Rabbi Israel C. Stein, CT, Rabbi Arthur Z. Steinberg, VA, Judith Stern
Peck, NY, Rabbi Susan B. Stone, OH, Joel D. Tauber, MI, Rabbi Burton
L. Visotzky, NY, Rabbi Simkha Y. Weintraub, NY, Melvyn I. Weiss, NY,
Rabbi Avi Winokur, PA, Rabbi Jeffrey A. Wohlberg, DC, Kathryn J. Wolf,
VA
Rabbi Jonathan S. Woll, NJ, Alan Wurtzel, DC, Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie,
NY, Lawrence Zicklin, NY, Aaron Ziegelman, NY
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