WASHINGTON (JTA) — The U.S. Senate passed a resolution expressing support for Israel and condemning Palestinian terror attacks.
The resolution, which passed by unanimous consent on Tuesday, condemned in the “harshest terms possible” attacks that have left 11 Israelis dead and 145 wounded, and called on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to stop incitement by Palestinian officials and media.
It further affirmed that the Senate “stands with the people of Israel during these difficult days” and supports the Jewish state’s right to self-defense, rejecting “any suggestion of the moral equivalence of Israeli security personnel” protecting its citizens and “terrorists intent to deliberately take innocent lives.”
Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., introduced the resolution, which had 67 co-sponsors — 41 Republicans and 26 Democrats. Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its own resolution condemning Palestinian terror.
Reiterating U.S. policy that a final peace must be negotiated, the Senate resolution called on all parties to return to talks “immediately and without preconditions.” It was introduced on Nov. 3, a few days prior to the White House announcement that the United States would not broker a peace agreement before President Barack Obama leaves office.
At the Jewish Federations of North America’s annual conference this week in Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was still in favor of “two states for two peoples.”
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