Members of the drafting committee voted to approve the language of the Democratic Party’s 2020 platform in a virtual meeting on Wednesday ahead of the July 27 vote by the full 187-member platform committee, including the party’s conventional language surrounding the U.S.-Israel alliance.
The platform includes language that expresses support for the U.S.-Israel relationship, a pledge to security funding for Israel and backing for a two-state solution “that ensures Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state with recognized borders and upholds the right of Palestinians to live in freedom and security in a viable state of their own,” reported Jewish Insider, which obtained a copy.
The platform also expresses opposition to “unilateral steps by either side—including applying sovereignty to Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank—that jeopardizes the prospects for two states” and objection to “settlement expansion.”
Regarding the status of Jerusalem, the platform states: “We believe that while Jerusalem is a matter for final status negotiations, it should remain the capital of Israel, an undivided city accessible to people of all faiths.”
This reflects the stance of the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, that the U.S. embassy, which U.S. President Donald Trump moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May 2018, five months after recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, should remain there.
The platform expresses opposition to “any effort to unfairly single out and delegitimize Israel, including at the United Nations or through the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions [BDS] movement, while protecting the constitutional right of our citizens to free speech.”
