New York, NY, December 6, 2006 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today criticized the element of linkage in the Iraq Study Group Report between greater U.S. involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the outcome of the war in Iraq.

Glen S. Lewy, ADL National Chair, and Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement:

The Iraq Study Group gets it wrong when it comes to the Arab-Israeli conflict.  We reject the suggestion that there is a connection between finding a solution to the war in Iraq and direct involvement of the U.S. in solving the Arab-Israeli conflict based on the recommendations in the report.  The goal of resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict should stand on its own and has always been a key objective of U.S. foreign policy.  It would be a terrible mistake to confuse the recent disintegration in Iraq with the decades-old Arab-Israeli conflict.

Where the report's recommendations are specific, it prejudges the outcome of negotiations between Israel, the Palestinians, Syria and Lebanon.  Where its recommendations are vague, they overlook prior peace agreements and commitments by the Palestinians.  The report's specific recommendations, such as the return of the Golan Heights to Syria, should be left to final-status negotiations and not dictated to them by outside parties.  This report waters down the international community's clear preconditions for any negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel, which were based on the cessation of violence, the acceptance of prior agreements and the recognition of Israel's right to exist.

We are appalled that one of the major principles of planning for the future stability of the region in America's interest does not include the total rejection of a nuclear Iran, because a nuclear Iran would do more to destabilize the region and undermine America's interests than any other single factor.  To relegate the issue of a nuclear Iran to the U.N. Security Council for a resolution is unrealistic.

It is encouraging that the report makes strong positive statements about the enduring American commitment to its key ally in the region, Israel, and acknowledges the Israeli desire for peace.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.