Floor Speeches

One of the most troubled areas of the world is at the threshold of the great breakthrough for peace and for humanity. I call upon the Israeli and Palestinian leadership to remain committed to peace talks. I applaud the courageous decision of both Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas to work together to achieve peace. A majority of Israelis and Palestinians support an agreement creating a Palestinian state. The majorities in both populations supporting a negotiated two state solution—and there is not a lot left to negotiate. We’ve known the basic parameters of such an agreement for many years. It’s critical that as new developments threaten to derail the process, President Abbas must put his people and hopes for independence and statehood above preconditions, and Israel should avoid providing excuses for the Palestinians to exit the talks or actions to alienate Palestinian support for the talks. I call upon both parties in the interest of their people and the people of the United States and the world to continue to engage in a good faith negotiation to create a comprehensive peace agreement to end the cycle of violence and replace it with a cycle of peace and prosperity for both peoples.