The American Jewish Congress salutes the introduction of the House bipartisan resolution supporting the status-quo breaking, U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords that Israel signed with the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Bahrain.

We thank Representative Eliot Engel (D-NY-16) and Representative Michael McCaul (R-TX-10), respectively the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, for their leadership. The U.S. Congress has a critical role in foreign policy and in advancing peace efforts. We continue to support the bipartisan consensus in support of Israel and believe that support on both sides of the aisle is essential to building a more prosperous and stable Middle East. 

As noted by the resolution, the establishment of full diplomatic relations between Israel and the UAE should pave the way to greater interaction between Arabs and Israelis, and facilitate the sustainability of the normalization agreements. Specifically, the UAE has terminated their boycott law which allows companies and individuals to directly trade with Israel. Furthermore, the resolution calls for other Arab countries to leverage this momentum and to join the UAE and Bahrain in normalizing relations with Israel. We applaud efforts to bring more nations to the table and know that Congressional support is crucial to enabling this. 

The American Jewish Congress remains ready to work with the U.S. Administration, Congress, partners in the Middle East, and all those invested in a more peaceful and prosperous future. 

© 2020 American Jewish Congress.