Sen. Brian Schatz is sponsoring an amendment affirming support for a two state solution in Israel.Just two Democratic senators didn’t sign on: John Fetterman and Joe Manchin.A spokesman for Fetterman said the resolution should “include language stipulating the destruction of Hamas”
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On Wednesday, Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii released an amendment to a forthcoming national security bill that affirms US support for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.In a rare show of unity on the issue — which has increasingly become a source of division within the Democratic Party — nearly every single Democratic senator signed onto the amendment.The only two who did not were Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
In a statement to Business Insider, a Fetterman spokesman said that the Pennsylvania Democrat “strongly supports a two-state solution in Israel and Palestine, and always has” but that he “strongly believes that this resolution should include language stipulating the destruction of Hamas as a precondition to peace.”Spokespeople for Manchin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The amendment calls for a “negotiated comprehensive solution” to the conflict “resulting in two states with Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in peace, security, dignity, and mutual recognition.”It also states that any such solution should ensure Israel’s “survival as a secure, democratic, and Jewish state” while fulfilling the “legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people for a state of their own.”It comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel’s security needs were “irreconcilable with a Palestinian state.””My insistence is what has prevented — over the years — the establishment of a Palestinian state that would have constituted an existential danger to Israel,” Netanyahu later said. “As long as I am prime minister, I will continue to strongly insist on this.”This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
