Israel strongly desires peace with the Palestinians and the entire Arab world.

As Prime Minister Netanyahu said in Washington after his meeting with President Obama on May 18, “I want to make it clear that we don’t want to govern the Palestinians. We want to live in peace with them.” He also expressed readiness to engage immediately and unconditionally in intensive bilateral negotiations with the Palestinian leadership to resolve all outstanding issues.

Israel and the Palestinian leadership agreed to the terms of the Quartet’s performance-based Roadmap for Peace and both sides should be expected to fulfill their obligations under it.

The question of Jewish settlement in the West Bank and Gaza Strip has long been a source of disagreement between Israeli governments and American administrations. We urge both the Obama administration and Netanyahu government not to allow any current differences over settlements to obscure the fundamental agreement they share on the broad geo-strategic challenges in the Middle East, including the need to reach a negotiated settlement between Israel and the Palestinians.

We believe that it would be a fundamental mistake for the United States to consider using any disagreement over settlements as a rationale for withholding economic, diplomatic or military support necessary for Israel’s security and survival.