Intel: J Street launches push to include Palestinian rights in Democratic Party platform

The left-leaning lobby group J street endorsed a letter today featuring 32 foreign policy professionals urging the Democratic National Committee to make Palestinian rights part of its 2020 platform.

“Past party platforms have rightly stated a commitment to Israel’s security and included condemnations of threats and actions against our ally, in addition to embracing a two-state outcome,” wrote the 32 signatories. “Those platforms have, however, also been nearly silent on the rights of Palestinians, on Israeli actions that undermine those rights and the prospects for a two-state solution, and on the need for security for both peoples.”

The letter goes on to note that President Donald Trump’s peace plan greenlights the annexation of Israeli settlements in the West Bank as well as the entire Jordan Valley, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hopes to implement by July as part of a unity deal with his chief political rival, Benny Gantz.

Why it matters: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict was a significant point of contention in the battle over the 2016 Democratic platform between the centrist and progressive wings of the party. Pro-Israel delegates loyal to the nominee, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, won out over delegates pledged to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who had sought to references Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and its settlements. As in prior years, the 2016 Democratic platform contained no reference to either.