US-Jewish leaders urge prime minister: Reject Levy report on legalizing settlements

Several dozen American Jewish leaders, including figures from the hawkish end of the political spectrum, have called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reject the Levy report, which gives legal backing to Israel’s West Bank settlements.

“As strong advocates for Israel’s security and well-being as a Jewish and democratic state, we are deeply concerned about the recent findings of government commission led by Supreme Court Justice (Ret.) Edmond Levy,” states a letter to the prime minister signed by more than 40 prominent communal leaders and philanthropists. “We fear that this report, if approved, will place the two-state solution, and the prestige of Israel as a democratic member of the international community, in peril.”

Signatories to the letter, which was delivered to Netanyahu on Sunday, include Canadian philanthropist Charles Bronfman; Rabbi Daniel Gordis, the president of the Jerusalem-based Shalem Center think tank; Holocaust expert Professor Deborah Lipstadt; Thomas Dine, a former executive director of the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC; and E. Robert Goodkind, a former president of the American Jewish Committee.

‘Securing Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state requires diplomatic and political leadership, not legal maneuverings’

Last week, a panel of three jurists appointed by Netanyahu and Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman released a report on the legality of Israel’s settlements in the West Bank. The jurists, headed by Levy, asserted that the settlements are legal under international law and that Israel’s actions in the West Bank should thus not be considered an occupation. The 89-page report also proposes legalizing many unauthorized Jewish outposts in the West Bank.

While numerous human rights groups and left-wing pundits slammed the report, Netanyahu said he would submit it to the Ministerial Committee for Settlement Affairs, which will “discuss it and make a decision.”

“This report, in my opinion, discusses the question of the legality and legitimacy of the settlement movement in Judea and Samaria on the basis of facts and claims that merit serious examination,” Netanyahu said about Levy’s legal opinion. No date has been set yet for a discussion of the report in the ministerial committee.

In their letter, the American-Jewish leaders state that the Palestinian leadership has refused to resume negotiations with Israel, but maintain that an adoption of Levy’s report “will not strengthen Israel’s position in the conflict, but rather add fuel to those who seek to delegitimize Israel’s right to exist.”

The letter, which was delivered to the prime minister Sunday morning, goes on, “At this moment, it is more critical than ever that Israel strengthen its claim in the international community that it is committed to a two-state vision, which is, in turn, central to Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state.

“Securing Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state requires diplomatic and political leadership, not legal maneuverings,” the letter states, before it concludes with a plea for the prime minister to “ensure that adoption of this report does not take place.”