WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Michael Bennet (D-CO), a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, have returned from a three-day official trip to Jordan, Israel, and the West Bank. The Senators met with U.S. diplomats, Jordanian, Israeli, and Palestinian leaders, and United Nations representatives. Booker and Bennet are the first Senators to visit the West Bank since Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023.
In Amman, Booker and Bennet met with U.S. Ambassador to Jordan, Yael Lempert, senior U.S. Embassy staff, and senior Jordanian officials, including Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh. In the meeting with Prime Minister Khasawneh, the Senators expressed their commitment to continue strengthening U.S.-Jordan relations as the two countries celebrate 75 years of diplomatic relations and expressed gratitude for Jordan’s partnership and leadership role in the region. Prime Minister Khasawneh briefed the Senators on King Abdullah’s efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza and establish a restored mutual ceasefire to the conflict between Israel and Hamas. The Senators also discussed the necessity of a two-state solution to ensure peace and security for both Israelis and Palestinians and regional stability. The delegation also met with United Nations representatives to learn about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and discuss the challenges and opportunities to deliver immediate and robust life-saving assistance to those in need.
From Amman, the Senators went to Ramallah to meet with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh and Palestinian Authority’s General Authority of Civil Affairs Hussein al-Sheikh. The delegation discussed the importance of access to humanitarian assistance in Gaza, West Bank stability, and key Palestinian Authority reform efforts. They also discussed what the future of leadership could look like in an autonomous, self-determining Palestinian state.
The Senators then departed for Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, where they received briefings from U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Jacob Lew, senior U.S. Embassy staff, and Lieutenant General Michael Fenzel, United States Security Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Senators Booker and Bennet also met with Israel’s Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, Israel’s National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi, and opposition leader and former prime minister Yair Lapid. During these meetings, the Senators reaffirmed the United States’ longstanding support for the Israeli people and commitment to Israel’s security. The Senators expressed support for the immediate and safe release of all hostages held by Hamas and pressed on the urgent need for far more robust and consistent access to humanitarian aid in Gaza through opening more entry points, increasing deconfliction efforts, and improving aid distribution security and processes. The Senators raised the importance of preventing harm to civilians while conducting operations to degrade Hamas’s military capabilities. They also raised the importance of West Bank security and preventing extremist settler violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank. The delegation was briefed on ongoing negotiations and the Senators pressed for the need to urgently reach a restored mutual ceasefire.
“Our visit with Jordanian, Israeli, and Palestinian leaders underscored the critical role the United States must continue to play in promoting and ensuring long term stability and peace in the region,” Booker said. “Our discussions reaffirmed the urgent need to support a restored mutual ceasefire that ensures the safe release of all hostages and increases the flow and scale of humanitarian aid into Gaza to adequately address the magnitude of suffering on the ground. It’s imperative that the United States uphold our commitment to ending this conflict and ensure that we put an end to Hamas’ capabilities so that something like October 7th never happens again. We must remember that the path towards a just and lasting peace is dependent upon our renewed commitment to a comprehensive two-state solution, in which we affirm and protect Israel’s right to exist as a democratic Jewish state and ensure the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and a state of their own.”
“This trip was an opportunity to meet with Israeli, Palestinian, and Jordanian leadership and reaffirm America’s commitment to long-term peace in the Middle East,” said Bennet. “In our meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, we underscored that degrading Hamas’ military capabilities, fighting for the hostages’ release, and protecting and delivering aid to Palestinian civilians cannot be mutually exclusive. We stressed the continued importance of a two-state solution that ensures Israel’s security and fulfills Palestinians’ legitimate aspirations for self-determination. Such a solution will not reward Hamas and its Iranian backers, as some Israeli leaders have suggested, but repudiate their visions of extremism and chaos by proving that peace and coexistence can succeed. I return home in firm belief that the United States must continue to play a leadership role in shaping a more peaceful and prosperous Middle East.”