The US House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday adopted two resolutions, one condemning the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and another endorsing a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Arab conflict, JNS reports.
The anti-BDS resolution, which also reaffirms support for the Jewish state, currently has 340 co-sponsors. It was introduced by Reps. Brad Schneider (D-IL), Lee Zeldin (R-NY), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Ann Wagner (R-MO).
The resolution currently has 340 co-sponsors from both parties, including 172 Democrats and 168 Republicans.
During the debate over the resolution, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) expressed opposition to it, saying, “We cannot condemn non-violent means.” Zeldin responded, “Don’t come to this committee and blame Israel for all the violence.”
At the same time, Omar plans to introduce a resolution in support of the BDS movement, reported Al-Monitor on Tuesday.
BDS has been targeted by several individual states which have passed legislation against the anti-Israel movement. These include: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
In February, the Senate approved a bill empowering states and local governments to ban cooperation with BDS.
The resolution calling for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was introduced by Reps. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA), Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Karen Bass (D-CA). It emphasizes the US-Israel relationship on issues from national security to shared values such as “democracy, human rights and the rule of law.”
At the same time, it also states, “Whereas the United States has long sought a just and stable future for Palestinians, and an end to the occupation, including opposing settlement activity and moves toward unilateral annexation in Palestinian territory.”
The resolution currently has 147 co-sponsors, all Democratic.
Finally, the committee adopted the US-Israel Cooperation Enhancement and Regional Security Act, which strives to improve bilateral security and economic ties between the two countries.
The resolution was introduced by Reps. Joe Wilson (R-SC) and Ted Deutch (D-FL) and has 273 co-sponsors: 141 Republicans and 132 Democrats.
The measures now go to the House floor and are expected to be voted on next week.