United States Capitol
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The US House of Representatives on Friday approved a resolution reaffirming US support for the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Arab conflict.

House Resolution 326, which was originally introduced by Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) and co-sponsored by 192 lawmakers from the Democratic party, was approved by a majority of 226 to 188.

The resolution states that “it is the sense of the House of Representatives that—

“(1) only the outcome of a two-state solution that enhances stability and security for Israel, Palestinians, and their neighbors can both ensure the state of Israel’s survival as a Jewish and democratic state and fulfill the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people for a state of their own;

“(2) while the United States remains indispensable to any viable effort to achieve that goal, only the Israelis and the Palestinians can make the difficult choices necessary to end their conflict;

“(3) the United States, with the support of regional and international partners, can play a constructive role toward ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by putting forward a proposal for achieving a two-state solution that is consistent with previous United States proposals to resolve the conflict’s final status issues in ways that recognize the Palestinian right to self-determination and enhance Israel’s long-term security and normalization with its neighbors; and

“(4) a United States proposal to achieve a just, stable, and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should expressly endorse a two-state solution as its objective and discourage steps by either side that would put a peaceful end to the conflict further out of reach, including unilateral annexation of territory or efforts to achieve Palestinian statehood status outside the framework of negotiations with Israel.”

The resolution was passed a day after lawmakers adopted two amendments that were meant to satisfy Republican and Democratic demands to achieve bipartisan consensus.

The amendments reaffirmed US military support for Israel and called for resumption of humanitarian assistance to Palestinian Arabs, which was cut by the Trump administration.

Lowenthal welcomed the approval of the resolution in a post on Twitter.

“Proud to see the House pass my bipartisan resolution to affirm our support for a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians. We took a stand for a just peace which safeguards human rights and security, and stands against unilateral annexation and settlement expansion,” he wrote.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)