Washington, DC – The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and Hamas today ended a seven-year rift by
reaching a historic reconciliation agreement.
Americans for Peace Now welcomes the agreement. APN holds that unity between the Palestinian political factions and
between the West Bank and Gaza is vital for empowering the Palestinian leadership to more credibly conduct
negotiations with Israel and to more efficiently implement a future peace agreement.
APN’s President and CEO Debra DeLee said: “The new Palestinian agreement is good news, and should be regarded as
such by the Obama administration and by the government of Israel. A Palestinian interlocutor who credibly
represents all the Palestinians is much better positioned to make hard decisions around the negotiating table and
is much better positioned to deliver when the time comes to implement a peace agreement. This reconciliation
agreement can and should empower and legitimize Mahmoud Abbas as a leader of the Palestinian polity.”
“We urge President Obama and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to continue interacting with Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas, and to determine the future relations of the U.S. administration and the Israeli
government with any Palestinian government based on that government's positions and actions alone.”