AIPAC reiterates commitment to two-state solution following website changes

The United States has officially backed the policy since 2002, and has acted as the main mediator between both parties for decades.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Updated: NOVEMBER 15, 2016 09:45
A man waits for the start of the evening's speeches at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference in Washington (photo credit: REUTERS)
A man waits for the start of the evening's speeches at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference in Washington
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee has reiterated its commitment to a two-state solution after US media noticed edits to policy language on its website.
While the term "two-state solution" was removed over the summer from a section describing the lobby's approach to discussing the conflict, it remains a top priority of AIPAC to promote two states for two people, a spokesman for the organization said on Monday.
The lobby has continued to list a two-state solution as the goal of direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, despite the edits, as its second-listed legislative priority.
It also remains a part of the organization's mission statement. "Our position has not changed," Marshall Wittmann, a spokesman for AIPAC, told The Jerusalem Post. "We continue to support a two-state solution."
The United States has officially backed the policy since 2002, and has acted as the main mediator between both parties for decades. Yet negotiations have grounded to a halt in recent years over a number of contentious issues, with the latest peace talk effort faltering in 2013-14.
AIPAC had until recently catalogued "the two-state solution" as the top talking point on a list of five, Buzzfeed News reported.
AIPAC's mission statements commits the lobby to “the promotion of a negotiated two-state solution — a Jewish state of Israel and a demilitarized Palestinian state.”
President-elect Donald Trump recently stated in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would be "the ultimate deal."
“As a deal maker, I’d like to do… the deal that can’t be made. And to do it for humanity’s sake," he added. The framework for the two-state-solution was first presented by the United Nations and calls for "two States, Israel and Palestine … side by side within secure and recognized borders."