May 19, 2005 

The Honorable Daniel Kurtzer

United States Ambassador to Israel

Tel Aviv, Israel

Dear Mr. Ambassador,

Churches for Middle East is alarmed by reports this week that the Israeli government is moving forward with construction of a separation barrier that will connect Maale Adumim to Jerusalem, an action that will be seen as de facto annexation.  The routing of this segment of the separation barrier on West Bank land prejudges the future border, and additionally, by blocking contiguity of East Jerusalem with Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, threatens the viability of a future state of Palestine. 

We have been encouraged by your and the President’s statements regarding the routing of the barrier and Israel’s obligations under the road map to not expand settlements. We endorse the Administration’s policy position that the issues of Jerusalem’s status, settlements and the border must be resolved by negotiations.  With urgency, we ask U.S. officials to stop the Israeli government from building the barrier connecting Maale Adumim to Jerusalem and insist that Israel fulfill its obligation to stop all expansion of settlements and to withdraw from outposts.

In his upcoming meeting with President Abbas, President Bush is expected to continue to press the Palestinian Authority to end acts of violence against Israelis, an obligation that we will also emphasize in our meeting with Mr. Abbas next week. However, we fear that unless the government of Israel immediately ceases its provocative actions to create facts-on-the-ground that the cycle of violence will resume and a two-state solution to the conflict will become impossible to achieve.

We appreciate your attention to our concern and your commitment to Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Sincerely,

J. Daryl Byler                 Corinne Whitlatch

Chair                             Executive Director