Sens. Robert Casey (D-Pa.) and Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), both considered close to AIPAC, initiated the letter to US Secretary of State John Kerry now circulating among senators for signatories. An official of the lobby on Wednesday confirmed that AIPAC supports the letter.

The letter and AIPAC’s backing for it signal a sharp change from before the latest Israel-Hamas war in Gaza over the summer, when AIPAC backed congressional measures that would have penalized the Palestinian Authority in the wake of its agreement to work with Hamas toward elections.

“We must enable efforts to enable the Palestinian Authority to exercise real power in Gaza,” it says.

“Real peace between Israelis and Palestinians will require a Palestinian partner that controls the West Bank and Gaza, is focused on economic development in both areas, and will accept Gaza’s demilitarization,” says the letter which Ayotte and Casey plan to send Sept. 18 after garnering additional signatures. “We must start this process now.”

Hamas won the general election in 2007 and formed a government based on resistance aspirations against the Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli regime has attempted to paralyze the resistant movement in Gaza and waged wars to vanish Hamas but it was unable to reach the satanic goal. 

NTJ/NJF