US House Committee Approves Legislation To Expand Abraham Accords
The House Foreign Affairs Committee approved the Israel Relations Normalization Act, which requires the State Department to work “to strengthen and expand the Abraham Accords and other related normalization agreements with Israel.” The bipartisan legislation already has been approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Its lead sponsor in the House is Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Illinois.
The bill, with 220 cosponsors in the House, was approved by the House committee on Thursday night. According to the bill, “it is the policy of the United States to expand and strengthen the Abraham Accords to encourage other nations to normalize relations with Israel and ensure that existing agreements reap tangible security and economic benefits for the citizens of those countries.”
An amendment was added to the legislation with language specifying that, as part of its support for a two-state solution, the US supports a Palestinian state “that rejects the use of terrorism.” A second amendment requires a report to be issued by the Secretary of State on the effect of policy changes, agreements and commitments by the US on the peoples of countries that have normalized relations with Israel.
