1. Bills, Resolutions
2. Letters
3. Hearings
4. Israel/Palestine in 2024 Elex/Politics
5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

1. Bills & Resolutions

2. Letters

WE SUPPORT ISRAEL

• (STOP DELAYING WEAPONS TO ISRAEL!!!!) 8/2/24: Cotton, 47 Senate GOP Colleagues to Biden-Harris Administration: Delaying Weapons to Israel Undermines Our Ally, Accommodates Iran [letter text] – letter accuses Biden/Harris of imposing a “partial arms embargo against Israel” [not accurate] and thereby “endangering our greatest ally in the Middle East and jeopardizing the lives of our American servicemembers stationed in the region.”
• (US MUST NOT STAND BY AND LET OTHER COUNTRIES BE EVEN A LITTLE HUMANE TO PALESTINIANS) 7/26/24: Cruz, Rubio, Colleagues Warn of Terrorist-Linked Gazans Crossing U.S.-Canada Border [letter text]

TARGET: FREE SPEECH/PROTEST/CRITICISM OF ISRAEL (and maybe also actual antisemitism but meh)

• (TARGETING X/MUSK FOR ANTISEMITISM) 8/2/24:  Congressman Dan Goldman Calls on Speaker Mike Johnson to Direct Oversight Committee to Hold Hearing on X’s Antisemitic Content and Possible Sanctions Violations [letter text] NOTE: while the letter does touch on ACTUAL antisemitism (hatred/threats against Jews because they are Jewish), the hook for the letter is the ADL’s allegation of a surge of antisemitism since 10/7/23 (which per the ADL’s approach is in large part if not mostly related to criticism of Israel and Zionism). Indeed, in pressing Johnson to push the Oversight Committee to convene an investigation of X, the letter explicitly links the demand to support for Israel: “Speaker Mike Johnson has reiterated his support for the Israeli people and condemned antisemitic demonstrations on college campuses. However, he has repeatedly refused to bring substantive bills to the floor that would address antisemitic hate.” Also see: Jewish Democrats call for hearing on terrorism sanctions violations, antisemitism on X (Jewish Insider 8/2/24)
• (TARGETING ACADEMIA) 8/1/24: Chair Foxx Demands Answers from Columbia University –Committee’s Investigation into Antisemitism Continues Despite University Stonewalling [letter text]; excerpt: “Columbia has failed to comply with the Committee’s requests in a timely manner. The Committee is providing Columbia an additional week to fulfill them. If these requests are not satisfied by the above deadline, the Committee is prepared to issue subpoenas…” Also see: Foxx threatens to subpoena Columbia University in antisemitism investigation (Jewish Insider 8/1/24)
• (TARGETING ACADEMIA) 8/1/24: E&C Republicans Open Investigation into Allegations of Antisemitism at UC San Francisco [letter text] – investigating claims of antisemitism related to protest of Israel’s war on Gaza. Also see: Lawmakers investigating antisemitism at UC-San Francisco medical centers (Jewish News Syndicate 8/1/24)

TARGET: BIDEN ADMIN (using Iran as hook for witch hunt)

• (WITCH HUNT USING IRANIAN-AMERICAN IN BIDEN ADMIN TO TARGET HARRIS ADVISOR) 7/31/24: Cotton, Stefanik Demand Answers Regarding Harris’ National Security Advisor’s Communications with Iranian Influence Operation [letter text] Also see: Kamala’s NatSec Adviser Probed Over Ties to Iranian Influence Network (Washington Free Beacon 7/31/24)
• (TARGETING ROB MALLEY) 7/30/24: McCaul, Risch Threaten Subpoena to Compel Response from State on Malley’s Security Clearance Suspension [letter text]

OTHER

• (KSA – FREE HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATES) 7/30/24: Raskin, Wyden, Beyer and Schiff Demand Release of All Wrongfully Detained Human Rights Advocates in Saudi Arabia [letter text]

 

3. Hearings & Markups

July 30, 2024: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing entitled, Strategic Competition with the PRC: Assessing U.S. Competitiveness Beyond the Indo-Pacific. The sole witness was Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell (statement). Also see: Murphy (D-CT) press release – Murphy Questions Deputy Secretary Of State On Efforts To Combat Chinese Misinformation And Further U.S. Interests In The Middle East; Barrasso (R-WY) press release – Barrasso: China is “Puppet Master” Using Russia, Iran against U.S.

 

4. Israel/Palestine in 2024 Politics/Elex

General

• Axios 8/1/24: Jewish lawmakers groan at “Genocide Josh” campaign
• Washington Post 7/31/24: Trump falsely calls Schumer a ‘proud member of Hamas’ —At a rally, Trump referred to actions by Schumer — the highest-ranking Jewish official in the U.S. — when Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Congress last week.
• Jewish Insider 7/31/24: Ernst accuses Harris of emboldening pro-Hamas demonstrators, Iran by skipping Netanyahu speech
• Jewish Insider 7/31/24: New ad campaign accuses Schumer of obstructing antisemitism bill – The ads, airing in Senate battlegrounds, accuse Schumer of ‘playing politics’ over fighting hatred [excerpt: “In addition to Schumer’s home state of New York, the source noted that the ads are strategically placed to run in several battleground states that will likely decide control of the Senate, including Arizona, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Ohio and Wisconsin.“] Also see my X-thread: Efforts to legislate the IHRA definition of antisemitism – in order to legally enforce quashing/criminalizing of free speech supporting Palestinian rights/lives – is stalled in the Senate, thanks to bipartisan opposition. So naturally IHRA backers are coming for Chuck Schumer | NOTE: when folks who keep saying that the Antisemitism Awareness Act is the “gold standard”, “widely adopted,” “consensus” definition and that it has broad, bipartisan support and reflects a wide expert and public consensus, have them take a look at the receipts: First set of receipts: A compendium of expert views and other resources laying out concerns/objections to the IHRA definition. Second set of receipts: Statements & Analyses Opposing Federal IHRA legislation (2024) [all of which were responses to House passage of the Antisemitism Awareness Act

Missouri

• NOTE: In the primary battle between Wesley Bell and Rep. Cori Bush, per its 1/1/24 FEC filings the United Democracy Project (AIPAC’s super PAC) has so far spent $8,502,459.06 in its effort to unseat Bush. This is in addition to funding from the AIPAC PAC, which as of 6/30/24 totaled $2,358,580.72 (details of July expenditures have not yet been processed by the FEC)
• Salon.com 8/2/24: Rep. Cori Bush faces media smears, torrent of AIPAC cash, for speaking truth about Gaza
• Democracy Now 8/2/24: AIPAC Spending Millions to Unseat Progressive MO Congressmember Cori Bush
• Jewish Insider 8/2/24: Signs point to a second Squad defeat in next Tuesday’s Missouri primary
• Mondoweiss 8/1/24: Activists hope grassroots outreach can overcome pro-Israel money as Cori Bush primary race enters final days
• Associated Press 8/1/24: A pro-Israel super PAC helped defeat one Squad member. Now it’s going after another, Cori Bush
• Teen Vogue 8/1/24: Cori Bush Primary Race Is Flooded With AIPAC Money Over Her Support for Ceasefire
• The Forward 8/1/24: ‘Antisemitism is on the ballot’ in St. Louis. What does that mean? –Campaign focused on Rep. Cori Bush’s St. Louis district echoes one that helped oust Jamaal Bowman in New York [“Echoing the campaign that ousted Rep. Jamaal Bowman in New York’s Democratic primary last month, a new group is trying to turn out Jewish voters in a St. Louis district represented by one of the harshest critics of Israel in Congress by saying ‘antisemitism is on the ballot’ when they go to the polls next week. The group, St. Louis Votes, won’t say exactly what that means, and its tax-exempt status prohibits it from explicitly campaigning for or against a specific candidate. But while its name suggests a citywide push, the campaign is only targeting voters in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, where Rep. Cori Bush, an outspoken progressive, is being challenged by Wesley Bell, the county prosecutor, in Tuesday’s Democratic primary. The nonprofit, which was created a few weeks ago, is staffed by veterans of a similar effort to boost Jewish turnout in Westchester County as part of a broader campaign to oust Bowman that was financed largely by AIPAC, which is also Bell’s main backer.”]
• Politico 8/1/24:  Knocking down the Squad: Dem prosecutor could oust second prominent House liberal [“…Although Democratic divides over Israel have barely factored into the race, the influx of outside spending prompted by the Israel policy fight have transformed it. Pro-Bell billboards dotted the city’s skyline, and ads funded by AIPAC’s political arm — the group’s super PAC has spent nearly $7 million — slamming Bush’s record and boosting Bell are inescapable on television.”]
• Mother Jones 8/1/24: The Big Money Push to Oust Cori Bush [“She introduced the first bill calling for a ceasefire. Now, she is facing her toughest political battle yet.”]
• Common Dreams 8/1/24: A Simple Question Those Who Smear Cori Bush Refuse to Answer [“AIPAC excels at strategic lobbying on Capitol Hill, relentlessly prodding or threatening lawmakers and their staffs to stay on the right side of a Zionist hardline, always brandishing the proven capacity to launch fierce attacks—while conflating even understated criticism of Israel with antisemitism. The basic formulas are simple: Israel = Judaism. Opposition to Israel’s lethal violence = antisemitism.Such formulaic manipulation has long been fundamental to claims that the Israeli government represents ‘the Jewish people’ and criticisms of its actions are ‘antisemitic.’That’s what the heroic Congresswoman Cori Bush is up against.“]
• The Hill 7/31/24: AIPAC super PAC accused of altering Bush’s appearance in ads
• The Intercept 7/31/24: AIPAC Used Distorted Photo of Cori Bush in $7 Million Negative Ad Blitz [“I shouldn’t have to ask my opponent to condemn his biggest funders for putting out an ad like this.”]
• Washington Examiner 7/31/24: AIPAC allies deny group distorted image of Cori Bush for ad campaign
• Jewish Insider 7/31/24: Cori Bush embellished, misrepresented anecdote during ‘Jews for Cori’ fundraiser, local activist says [“Bush claimed that Debbie Kitchen was individually responsible for AIPAC’s spending against her. Kitchen says she has nothing to do with the pro-Israel group”]
• Jezebel 7/30/24: Cori Bush’s Democratic Primary Could Cost the Party Its Reproductive Justice Champion [“‘My district isn’t for sale, and it’s not going to be just a stepping stone in a politician’s career,’ Bush told Jezebel about the stakes for abortion rights in her race and the outsized role of lobbyist groups like AIPAC.“]
• Common Dreams 7/30/24:  Nearly Two-Thirds of All Campaign Funds for Cori Bush Challenger Came From AIPAC [“‘Wesley Bell is now the No. 1 recipient of AIPAC cash this cycle—receiving $3 million and counting,’ Justice Democrats noted.“]
• Sludge 7/30/24: AIPAC Is Trying to Buy Another House Seat
• Jacobin 7/30/24: Cori Bush’s Opponent Is Swimming in Right-Wing AIPAC Cash
• Drop Site 7/30/24: Leaked Audio: “I’m NOT Running Against You,” Cori Bush’s Primary Challenger Told Her Months Before Running Against Her [“Progressive prosecutor Wesley Bell pledged to stay out of the race—before millions of dollars enticed him in“]
• American Prospect 7/30/24: Different Circumstances in the Next Squad Primary Fight [“Cori Bush faces off against Wesley Bell—and millions in super PAC money. But the story isn’t that simple.”]
• Roll Call 7/29/24: Rep. Cori Bush faces well-funded prosecutor in Missouri primary [“‘Squad’ member’s support for Palestinians draws heavy pro-Israel spending”]
• Jewish Insider 7/29/24: Wesley Bell builds momentum in final days of Missouri primary – Challenger to Rep. Cori Bush opens up six-point lead in new poll
• Newsweek 7/29/24: Cori Bush Could Lose Primary as Israel Divides Democrats
• Jacobin 7/27/24: The Right Is Hoping to Defeat Cori Bush Next
• Kansas City Defender 7/26/24: The Diverging Paths of Cori Bush and Wesley Bell: Following the Money Trail to Missouri’s 1st Congressional District Race [“The impending primary election in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District offers the voters of St. Louis a choice between a vocal advocate for the people and a prosecutor beholden to paid interests.“]

Arizona

• Jewish Insider 7/30/24: Phoenix House race features two Democrats with differing views on Israel  [“The race pits Yassamin Ansari, the former vice mayor of Phoenix, against Raquel Terán, a former state legislator and party chair“]
• Jewish Insider 7/29/24: ‘The dirtiest, nastiest congressional race in all the country’ comes to a head [“Blake Masters and Abe Hamadeh face off in Arizona’s 8th Congressional District on Tuesday”]

Minnesota

• Star Tribune 7/30/24: Minnesota’s primary elections are two weeks away. Here are four key races to watch. [“
• Star Tribune 7/27/24: Pro-Israel groups stay out of Ilhan Omar, Don Samuels rematch so far [“Omar meets all the qualifications for being a top priority for defeat by pro-Israel groups, but the fact they have stayed out of her primary suggests she’s seen as tough to beat in the August primary.“]

Florida

• VIN NEWS (press release outlet) 7/9/24: Former Trump Ambassador To Israel David Friedman Endorses Bryan Leib for Florida’s 25th Congressional District [“I know Bryan will be a fearless leader in Congress in supporting President Trump, the Jewish community in South Florida, in confronting the Islamic Republic of Iran head on, and in taking the US-Israel alliance to new heights. Bryan will always put America First while never wavering in standing tall with the State of Israel.“]

5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

Escalation on all fronts

• Jewish Insider 8/1/24: U.S. lawmakers wary of regional unrest after Haniyeh assassination [“Legislators supportive of efforts to remove Hamas leadership while expressing concern“]
• Politico 7/31/24: Congress scrambles to make sense of Hamas leader’s death
• Fox News 7/31/24: Sen. Lindsey Graham calls on Israel to ‘destroy’ Iranian oil refineries
• Budd (R-NC) 7/31/24: Budd Statement on Death of Hamas Political Leader [“The death of Hamas’ political leader sends a clear and resounding message to terrorists that those who kill and kidnap Americans will ultimately face justice. Terrorists with American blood on their hands should be mourned by no one, especially by a major non-NATO ally like Qatar. Maximum pressure on Hamas terrorists is the best way to secure the release of hostages.”]
• McCaul (R-TX) 7/31/24: Chairman McCaul Issues Statement on Iran’s Extraterritorial Threats
• McCaul (R-TX) 7/31/24: Chairman McCaul Presses Biden Administration to Fast-Track Critical Weapons to Israel
• Daines (R-MT) 7/29/24: Daines Statement on Hezbollah’s Attack on Israel
• Jewish Insider 7/29/24: Schumer calls for de-escalation as other lawmakers back potential Israeli response to Hezbollah [“Sen. Ted Cruz: ‘This continued appeasement directly endangers the security of Israel and therefore the safety and prosperity of Americans”]
• Cruz (R-TX) 7/28/24: Cruz Condemns Hezbollah Attack on Israel, Blasts Biden-Harris Efforts to Block Israeli Response
• Stefanik (R-NY) 7/27/24: Stefanik Statement on Hezbollah’s Violent Attack Against Israelis At Playground And Soccer Field

Palestinians/Gaza Strip

• Gottheimer (D-NJ) 8/1/24: Gottheimer Statement Marking 300 Days Since Hamas’s October 7 Terrorist Attacks — Reaffirms call for hostages to be released
• Jewish Insider 8/1/24: [the same day Israel assassinated the guy they are ostensibly negotiating a ceasefire with] Cardin maintains that Hamas is to blame for the lack of a cease-fire deal [“The Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman said that the framework for a Saudi-Israel deal is ‘pretty well-developed’ and could be finalized quickly“]
• Jewish Insider 7/30/24: Lindsey Graham vows UNRWA won’t receive ‘one dime’ from U.S.
• Jewish Insider 7/30/24: House Abraham Accords Caucus meets with Abraham Accords ambassadors on Gaza reconstruction [“The House Abraham Accords Caucus met last week with the ambassadors of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco to the United States last week to discuss the reconstruction and future of the Gaza Strip, as the U.S. pushes for Arab states to become involved in the ‘day-after’ plan for the territory.“]
• Jewish News Syndicate 7/29/24: Legislators meet with ambassadors of UAE, Bahrain, Morocco to advance Gaza group [“‘Moving forward, it is imperative that we continue to facilitate these dialogues with global leaders to ensure Gazans can rely on a free and fair democracy,’ said Rep. David Trone (D-Md.).”]
• New York Times 7/29/24: Aides in Congress Create Dissent Channel to Protest Support for Israel [“An anonymous group of junior staff members has modeled its effort on an internal State Department messaging system, hoping to create an outlet for calls for a cease-fire in the war in Gaza.“]
• Jewish Insider 7/29/24: Senate Appropriations Committee votes to extend U.S. freeze on UNRWA funds [“Sens. John Tester, Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema voted with Republicans in favor of the continued freeze”]
• Kaine (D-VA) and Warner (D-VA) 7/29/24: Senators Kaine and Warner call for Israel-Hamas ceasefire

Reflections/analysis re: Bibi Address to Congress

• Mondoweiss 8/1/24: The Shift: Netanyahu protests lead to more bills targeting protesters
• Arab Center Washington/Khalil Jashan 7/31/24: Netanyahu’s Demagoguery Before Congress over the Gaza War
• Mondoweiss 7/28/24: Congress applauded the genocide in Gaza, but Netanyahu’s speech showed the political consensus on Israel is over
• Haaretz 7/28/24: Shame on the U.S. Senators and Congress Members Who Cheered Netanyahu
• Haaretz 7/28/24: Netanyahu Pulled an Old, Cruel Trick on Congress, and on Israel’s Hostages
• The Hill 7/28/24: Van Hollen says it was a ‘mistake’ for Democrats to support Netanyahu addressing Congress
• Jerusalem Post 7/27/24: ‘No way to treat an ally at war’: WSJ editorial slams protests targeting Bibi’s Congress address

Targeting Free Speech/Protest

• House Environment and Water Public Works Committee 8/1/24: VIDEO: Capito, Ricketts: EPA, Vice President Harris Doling Out Inflation Reduction Act Funds for Radical Groups [Capito: “…in our investigation, we found that a lot of this money that’s going out really has little to do with the environment and a lot to do with funding groups that are basically engaged in what I characterize as anti-American activities. They’re anti-American, anti-Semitic, anti-Israel, anti-police and anti-border security.”; Ricketts: “When you’re giving money to organizations like the Climate Justice Alliance, and they are funding the march on Washington and they are waving the Free Palestinian flags and so forth, we’re paying them to lobby our government. Everyday Nebraskans don’t think that’s a good idea that our tax dollars should go to radical organizations to lobby our own government. That’s just crazy.“]
• House Ways & Means leadership 8/1/24: What They Are Saying: How Ways and Means Legislation Will Protect Jewish Students and Help Parents Save for Kids’ Education
• Jewish News Syndicate 8/1/24: Congress should investigate ‘The Washington Post’ and ‘The New York Times’
• Jewish News Syndicate 7/29/24: ‘As if my home turf no longer mine,’ students tell senators about school Jew-hatred

Other stuff

• Jewish News Syndicate 7/31/24: Congresswoman Sara Jacobs is sorely mistaken
• Wild (D-PA) 7/30/24: Statement from Bipartisan Group of Jewish Members of Congress Condemning Antisemitic Incidents in Pennsylvania
• Jewish Insider 7/30/24: Senators denounce Erdogan’s Israel threat

1. Bills, Resolutions
2. Letters
3. Hearings
4. Israel/Palestine in 2024 Elex/Politics
5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

1. Bills & Resolutions

TARGETING HAMAS/PIJ

• HR 9153: Introduced by Issa (R-CA), “To provide for the addition of senior leaders of HAMAS and Palestine Islamic Jihad, United States Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations, as well as affiliated terrorists to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Most Wanted terrorism list, and for other purposes.”  Referred to the Committees on the Judiciary, and on Foreign Affairs. NOTE: For the record, the FBI’s “Most Wanted Terrorists List” page states: “The alleged terrorists on this list are charged with federal crimes in the United States, as indicated on their wanted posters. The pending charges listed on the posters allow them to be arrested and brought to justice…” [so senior leaders of Hamas and PIJ would not appear to qualify to be added to this list unless/until they are chared with federal crimes in the U.S.]

TARGETING IRAN

• S. 4761: Introduced 7/24/24 by Graham (R-SC), “A bill to require increased duties for goods and services imported from countries that import crude oil or petroleum products produced in the Islamic Republic of Iran.” Referred to the Committee on Finance. Also see Graham’s press release – Graham Introduces Legislation to End Financial Support For Terrorist Iranian Regime; Graham introduces legislation to place tariffs on countries that buy oil from Iran (Jewish Insider 7/24/24)

======

(Senate NDAA) S. 4638: Introduced 7/8/24 by Reed (D-RI), the “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025.” This is the bill that will have to be reconciled, eventually, with the version passed by the House 6/14/24 HR 8070, covered in excruciating detail in the 6/14/24 edition of the Round-Up, and in the accompany special Round-Up analysis, Middle East provisions in the House version of the FY25 NDAA. NOTE: JINSA has produced a super useful analysis, A Long, Hot Summer for National Defense Authorization Act Negotiations Begins, which includes a detailed inventory/comparison of Middle East-related provisions in both the House and Senate bills. Last week’s Round-Up included an inventory of Middle East-related amendments introduced thus far. Below are additi0nal amendments offered this week.

• [TARGETING IRAN] S. Amdt. 3053: Offered by Cotton (R-AR), to attach to the NDAA a piece of legislation entitled the “No ICBMs for Iran Act of 2024,” imposing far-reaching new Iran sanctions and expanding existing sanctions. [also intro’d by Cotton as S. Amdt. 2204]
• [TARGETING IRAN/VENEZUELA FUEL EXPORTS] S. Amdt. 3047: : Offered by Rubio (R-FL), to impose a prohibition on the importation of crude oil, petroleum, petroleum products, and liquefied natural gas from Venezuela and Iran.
• [US-JORDAN DEFENSE COOPERATION] S. Amdt. 3045: Offered by Rubio (R-FL), to attach to the NDAA the “United States-Jordan Defense Cooperation Act of 2024′‘
• [NO SAUDI WMD] S. Amdt. 3039 : Offered by Markey (D-MA), to attach to the NDAA a piece of legislation entitled, “Stopping Activities Underpinning Development In Weapons of Mass Destruction Act” aka the “SAUDI WMD Act”
• *****[SOFTENING UP THE LEAHY LAW! (I WONDER WHY???)] S. Amdt. 2988: Offered by Cornyn (R-TX), to amend current law (the Leahy Law), which requires the suspension of US provision of “any training, equipment, or other assistance for a unit of a foreign security force if the Secretary of Defense has credible information that the unit has committed a gross violation of human rights.” Cornyn’s amendment would soften the requirement under that law that says that the resumption of provision of all these things is conditioned on a determination that the government in question “has taken all necessary corrective steps,” changing it to requiring that said government “is taking effective steps to bring the responsible members of the security forces unit to justice.”*****
• [TARGETING IRAN] S. Amdt. 2977: Offered by Ernst (R-IA) , to attach to the NDAA a piece of legislation entitled, the “Iran Sanctions Act” (similar to HR 6201)
• [TARGETING IRAN] S. Amdt. 2976: Offered by Ernst (R-IA), to attach to the NDAA a long piece of legislation entitled the  “Preventing Underhanded and Nefarious Iranian Supported Homicides Act of 2024” aka the “PUNISH Act of 2024” (previously introduced by Ernst as S. 3028.  This legislation would, in effect, wipe out all presidential waiver authority for all Iran sanctions, and impose an across-the-board ban on waiving/removing any sanctions.

============

(SENATE SFOPS APPROPS) S. 4797: On 7/25/24, the Senate Appropriations Committee marked up and passed/reported out of Committee the Senate’s version of the FY25 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Act. Also see: bill text (pre-mark-up); committee report (pre-mark-up); amendments adopted in committee; committee announcement of passage of the bill (minority). As always, the SFOPS bill includes tons of provisions related to Israel and the Middle East – and as always, it lays out conditions, restrictions, vetting, oversight requirements, and bans on aid related to the Palestinians more far-reaching than on any other U.S. aid program anywhere in the world (notwithstanding the fact that the US provides very little funding to the Palestinians). State tuned for next week’s Round-Up for a run-down of all of these provisions in S. 4797.

• As a preview, note that a key battle over this bill in committee centered on UNRWA – see: X-thread 7/25/24, from the Center for Middle East Peace’s Joel Braunold running down the debate in committee around UNRWA, and his follow-up X-post 7/26/24: “Confirmation of yesterday the Collins Graham amendment that passed is a perm ban for UNRWA (once in base sfops never comes out) and also the Coons conditions that are a dead letter at this point given the previous adopted amendment“.
• Also see X-thread from MEDC’s Seth Binder 7/25/24, opening with: “Yesterday, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed its foreign aid bill for fiscal year 2025. As expected, its markedly different than the House version. A non-exhaustive thread on some of the key provisions included by Senate appropriators for the Middle East and North Africa.“
• Also see McConnell statement 7/25/24: McConnell: We Will Not Fund UNRWA:

“The legislation reported favorably by the Appropriations Committee today is the product of diligent efforts by Vice Chair Collins and Ranking Member Graham to meet an increasingly dangerous world with necessary investments in American leadership and support to critical partners.  Just as important is our colleagues’ focus on the places SFOPS appropriations must not go. In both the national security supplemental and FY 2024 appropriations, Senate Republicans ensured that no taxpayer dollars would go to a corrupted international agency – the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) – whose staff aid and abet Iran-backed terror. More than a dozen UNRWA staff participated in the horrific attacks of October 7th, and many more have been traced to Hamas affiliations.  In the absence of substantive reforms at UNRWA, it is clear that the prohibitions protecting American taxpayers from underwriting terrorist savagery must be extended. Unfortunately, as demonstrated by a partisan amendment today, it is also clear that a number of Senate Democrats would rather weaken what must remain a bold red line of U.S. policy.  Here are the facts: An extension of the prohibition on UNRWA funding received bipartisan support. It comports with the House’s clear position and companion bill, which cannot be said of other provisions adopted today by the Committee. And any further insistence that taxpayers fund this discredited and corrupt agency will place the rest of the Committee’s enormously important efforts to fund critical State and foreign operations in jeopardy.”

2. Letters

Concern for Palestinians

• (HELP SICK/INJURED KIDS IN GAZA!) 7/24/24: Van Hollen Joins Welch, Colleagues in Call for Expedited Evacuations of Children with Complex Medical Needs from Gaza [letter text]
• (HELP GET AID TO GAZA/SUPPORT AID WORKERS!) 7/23/24: Duckworth Urges Secretary of State to Work with Israel to Expand and Expedite Delivery of Humanitarian Aid into Gaza to Support Aid Workers and Innocent Civilians [letter text]

Concern for Biden’s Legacy

• (RE-FRAMING REALITY TO TRY TO MAKE BIDEN’S MIDDLE EAST LEGACY NOT JUST GENOCIDE) 7/24/24: Chairs Cardin, Reed, Warner Support President Biden’s Vision to End Gaza Conflict, Pursue Comprehensive Peace [letter text included in press release]

Bibi’s Speech

• (BLAMING BIDEN ADMIN FOR ANTI-BIBI PROTESTS) 7/24/24: Westerman Demands Immediate Resources for U.S. Park Police Responding to D.C. Riots [letter text]. Key quote from the letter: “While USPP and other law enforcement officers protect our nation’s historical monuments and most treasured spaces around the National Capital Region, protestors have run wild…” Westerman goes on to explain how he defines “running wild” — “destroying federal property”  [presumably a reference to graffiti, which already has been or is now being removed], “burning American flags” [a totally legal form of protest], and raising Palestinian flags [also a totally legal action].” Also see: Biden-Harris Admin Denied Resources to Police During Pro-Hamas Protest Where Agitators Burned American Flag, Committee Chairman Says (Free Beacon 7/24/25)
• (THOU SHALT NOT PROTEST BIBI) 7/23/24: Johnson letter to House members warning of “zero-tolerance policy” for anyone “disturbances” anywhere in the Capitol related to Netanyahu address to Congress, including threat to arrest members/guests who disturb Bibi’s speech [reminder: Biden’s GOP hecklers vent their fury over the border — and more (Politico 3/7/24); Republicans repeatedly interrupt Biden during State of the Union address (CNN 2/8/23); GOP Reps. Greene, Boebert heckle Biden throughout State of the Union address (NBC News 3/2/22); Rep. Wilson shouts, ‘You lie’ to Obama during speech (CNN 9/10/09)
• (DON’T HOST BIBI IN CONGRESS) 7/23/24: “A group of senior Israeli figures including former national security officials, academics and business leaders have sent US congressional leadership a blistering letter accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is set to speak to Congress on Wednesday, of threatening both Israeli and American national security.” (CNN 7/23/24) [Letter text]

Targeting Free Speech/Protest in Support of Palestinian Lives/Rights

• (TARGETING PROTESTERS FOR PALESTINIAN RIGHTS/LIVES) 7/24/24: Gottheimer Leads 31 Bipartisan Members in a Letter Requesting Classified Briefing on Iranian Influence in Anti-Israel Protests [letter text]. Also see: Legislators call for briefing on Iranian influence over anti-Israel demonstrations (Jewish News Syndicate 7/25/24)

Standing with Israeli Military Actions

• (SUPPORT ISRAEL BOMBING LEBANON) 7/24/24: Stefanik, Hagerty Demand Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Support Israel’s Rig ht to Defend Itself Against Hezbollah [letter text]

Targeting Iran

• (IRAN IRAN IRAN) 7/22/24: Sen. Cruz Presses Biden Admin on Iranian Suicide Drones Built With American Components [letter text]. Also see: Iranian Suicide Drones Used in Tel Aviv Attack Constructed With American Components, Cruz Says (Free Beacon 7/22/24)

3. Hearings & Markups

July 23, 2024: The House Ways and Means Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight held a hearing entitled, Fueling Chaos: Tracing the Flow of Tax-Exempt Dollars to Antisemitism. Witnesses were: Lara Burns, GW University (statement); Oren Segal, ADL (statement – including pitch to pass HR 7921, “the Countering Antisemitism Act” and HR 6408, “To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to terminate the tax-exempt status of terrorist supporting organizations“); and Charles Small, ISGAP (statement – focused on alleging nefarious, largely undisclosed influence of Arab funding of US academia (Muslim Brotherhood and Qatar, at various universitieus and with respect to SJP). Reminder re ISGAP and undisclosed foreign funding: Think tank failed to disclose six-figure grant from Israeli government (The Forward 8/31/20] — reporting how Israeli government documents show that ISGAP “…received $445,000 from the Israeli government in 2018. That value equals nearly 80% of its reported revenue that year. A separate ministry document said the grant was for the institute’s annual seminar at Oxford University that trains professors to teach about antisemitism, as well as ‘conducting research in the field of antisemitism and delegitimization against Israel.’”].

Also see:

• Hearing video
• Committee press release – Four Key Moments: Hearing on Tax-Exempt Funding of Antisemitism
• press release announcing the hearing [excerpt: “House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman David Schweikert (AZ-01) announced today that the Subcommittee on Oversight will hold a hearing to examine the use of American-based tax-exempt organizations to finance antisemitism in the United States and terrorism abroad, including the role of foreign adversaries.”].
• Opening statements: Subcommittee Chairman Schweikert; Chairman Smith (R-MO)
• Jewish News Syndicate 7/23/24: Nonprofits being used to fund ‘explosion’ of Jew-hatred on campus, House committee hears [“‘The violence and hatred directed at Jewish Americans and in support of terrorist organizations like Hamas are not some organic uprising,’ said House Ways and Means Committee chair Jason Smith.”]

July 23, 2024: The House Foreign Affairs Committee held an HFAC Member Roundtable with Families of U.S. Hostages Held by Hamas. Also see HFAC media advisory; McCaul (R-TX) statement 7/23/24: Chairman McCaul Delivers Statement at Roundtable with Families of Americans Held Hostage by Hamas; Hostage’s brother tells US lawmakers Netanyahu blind to urgency of reaching deal (Times of Israel 7/24/24)

July 25, 2024: The Senate Appropriations Committee held a mark-up of the Senate’s version of the FY25 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill (video). Also see: the committee’s summary of its FY25 SFOPS. The committee passed the bill, with amendments, by a vote of 24-5. Also see: bill text (pre-mark-up); amendments adopted in committee; committee report

July 25, 2024: Per Jewish Insider, Sens. Rosen (D-NV) and Lankford (R-OK) hosted a Senate roundtable on campus antisemitism

4. Israel/Palestine in 2024 Politics/Elex

VP Kamala Harris

• Attacking Harris for missing Bibi’s address to Congress: Ricketts (R-NE), Scott (R-FL),  McConnell (R-KY), Cornyn (R-TX), Tuberville (R-AL)
• Free Beacon 7/24/24: ‘She Can’t Be Serious’: RJC Launches Five-Figure Ad Slamming Harris for ‘Snubbing Israel’
• Free Beacon 7/24/24: GOP Senators Slam Kamala for Snubbing Netanyahu Address
• Jewish Insider 7/23/24: Jewish Democrats fall in line behind Harris [“One top backer calls the vice president ‘an old school liberal Zionist’ who’s ‘probably to the left of Joe Biden’“]
• Jewish Insider 7/24/24: Speaker Johnson: VP Harris will ‘pay a price’ politically for skipping Bibi speech [“In interview with JI, Johnson also addressed the foreign policy divide within the GOP“]
• Jewish Insider 7/23/24: Cardin to preside at Netanyahu’s speech, with VP Harris absent
• Jewish Insider 7/22/24: As rank-and-file Dems rally around Harris, some top leaders hold back endorsements
• Jewish Insider 7/22/24: Jewish Democratic lawmakers defend Harris’ record on Israel and antisemitism

Missouri

• Jewish Insider 7/26/24: Cori Bush faces diverse coalition of opponents looking to oust her from office [“The National Black Empowerment Action Fund surveyed Black voters in the district, and found the anti-Israel congresswoman’s support shaky“]
• Rob Pyers 7/26/24: X-post — “AIPAC’s United Democracy Project drops another $1 million in the #MO01 Democratic primary, $700K opposing incumbent Cori Bush, $300K supporting challenger Wesley Bell, sending their total spending in the race past $7 million.” See table attached to post.

Other

• Jewish News Sydicate 7/25/24: RJC endorses Joe Fraser in Minnesota Senate race [“RJC cited Fraser’s statement that he would ‘always be a champion for the Jewish people and a supporter of the State of Israel,’ and pointed to problems with his primary opponent.”]

5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

The big news this week was the address to a joint session of Congress by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Pretty much all Republicans (except for Massie, R-KY) and a large number of Democrats attended, applauded, and over and over gave Netanyahu standing ovations as he delivered a speech that felt like nothing so much as a cult leader addressing his acolytes & worshipful followers, with the Democratic side interspersed with the faces of fellow members who looked appalled/angry/scared/sad – whether at Bibi’s flying-in-the-face-of reality/facts/international law speech, wreaking of militarism, racial/ethnic/religious supremacism, and illiberal themes including targeting free speech and free thought/academia; the spectacle of fellow members of Congress all but dancing/genuflecting in ecstasy over Bibi’s illiberal utterances; the political realities that in some cases forced them to attend; Leader Johnson’s threat that anyone who “disturbed” the speech would be arrested; or maybe something else. Notable among them was Rep. Tlaib (D-MI), who sat through the entire speech holding up a sign reading on one side, ‘GUILTY OF GENOCIDE” and on the other “WAR CRIMINAL.”

This Round-Up’s coverage of members’ statements/X-posts regarding Bibi and his speech to Congress is NOT comprehensive. It includes a selection of statements from members critical of or boycotting the Bibi speech. It does not include any of the many, many, many statements/X-post supporting/celebrating Bibi and his speech (it’s just too many people saying versions of the same thing). Bottom line: if you want to see what a specific members said, check their website, X-account, or the Congressional Record. Also check out this useful thread tracking members who publicly said they would not attend; this X-post from an Axios journalist who was in the chamber during Bibi’s speech – “By my count, roughly 100 of the 212 House Democrats and 27 of 51 Senate Democrats (and Dem-caucusing independents) are in the chamber for Netanyahu’s speech. That’s around half of each caucus absent.”

Bibi on the Hill – Members on the Record re: Criticizing and/or boycotting, or responding to the speech (in alphabetical order)

• Bera (D-CA) 7/23/24: Rep. Ami Bera on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Joint Address to Congress
• Booker (D-NJ) 7/24/24: Booker Statement on Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Joint Address to Congress [excerpt: “Prime Minister Netanyahu will perhaps be remembered as one of the worst leaders in Israel’s history. I’ve long had serious disagreements with his actions and those of his ultra-right wing governing coalition — from their actions to erode Israel’s democratic institutions, to their allowance of illegal settlement expansion in the West Bank and lack of accountability for extremist settler violence, to their undermining of the Palestinian Authority — all of which threaten Israel’s security and the prospects for a two-state solution. Furthermore, when Israel needed clear-eyed leadership in the wake of the horrific October 7 terror attacks, Prime Minister Netanyahu responded by prioritizing his own political survival over the security of Israelis and the safe return of the hostages held by Hamas – including eight American citizens. Many other Israeli leaders were willing to step up and accept responsibility for their failures; Prime Minister Netanyahu instead pointed fingers of blame. I believe his leadership has led to a prolonged military conflict between Israel and Hamas and horrific levels of death and suffering of civilians in Gaza. His actions have made ensuring true Israeli security, ending the conflict, and establishing a lasting and just peace more difficult…“]
• Bowman (D-NY) 7/24/24: X-post – “We should never platform or give political cover to war criminals. It’s our responsibility to uplift the shared humanity of all people and work together toward peace.“
• Bush (D-MO) 7/23/24: statement – “For lawmakers who genuinely care about democracy and freedom, standing up for human rights is not just a talking point. It’s not conditional. It’s an active choice we make every day. Days like tomorrow are crucial moments where we must show that we support the dignity and humanity of all people without exception. In solidarity with the Palestinian people and all oppressed people across the world, I will be boycotting Prime Minister Netanyahu’s joint address to Congress. By bestowing Prime Minister Netanyahu with a joint address, Congress is not only continuing to green-light genocide; it is actively celebrating the man at the forefront of that genocide. Instead of platforming a war criminal, Congress should be imposing an arms embargo and using its leverage to force Netanyahu to end the bombing and bloodshed that has already killed over 39,000 Palestinians and failed to ensure the safe release of the vast majority of hostages, all while decimating schools, hospitals, homes, and humanitarian convoys. Since day one, I have been advocating for a permanent ceasefire and the safe release of hostages and those arbitrarily detained. That is what I will keep pushing for until our pro-peace, pro-humanity movement wins. I urge my colleagues to boycott this war criminal and join us in the fight for a just and lasting peace that protects the right to self-determination for Palestinians and Israelis alike.”
• Carbajal (D-CA) 7/24/24: Rep. Carbajal Statement on Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Address to U.S. Congress [“Carbajal: ‘I remain deeply concerned that [the Prime Minister’s] bravado threatens to plunge his country and the region into larger and longer conflict.'”]
• Castro (D-TX) 7/24/24: Statement from Congressman Castro on Benjamin Netanyahu’s Address to Congress [“Over the last nine months, Benjamin Netanyahu has prosecuted Israel’s war in Gaza with contempt for human life. Under his command, Israeli troops have bombed hospitals, ambulances, and schools, killing nearly 40,000 people, most of whom are civilians, and leaving millions homeless. He has failed to prioritize the rescue of hostages and has pursued mass destruction of Palestinian society instead of accountability for the Hamas terrorists who carried out the October 7 attacks. Netanyahu clearly cares about nothing but his own political survival. I have no confidence that he is willing or able to negotiate the ceasefire and hostage deal that Israelis and Palestinians desperately need. The opportunity to address a joint session is an honor that should be reserved for the most distinguished world leaders. Netanyahu should be standing in front of a criminal tribunal — not the U.S. Congress.”]
• Chu (D-CA) 7/24/24: Rep. Chu Declines to Attend Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Address to Joint Session of Congress
• DeLauro (D-CT) 7/24/24: DeLauro Statement on Decision Not to Attend Speech by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
• Durbin (D-IL) 7/24/24: Durbin Delivers Floor Speech Ahead Of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Joint Address To Congress
• Durbin (D-IL) 7/23/24: statement – “I am committed to Israel and its right to defend its people. The Hamas attack on October 7 was unprovoked and cowardly, and its continued holding of hostages unconscionable. However, Israel’s execution of its war in Gaza under the direction of Prime Minister Netanyahu with 39,000 Palestinians dead and 90,000 injured is a brutal strategy beyond any acceptable level of self-defense. And Netanyahu’s refusal to consider any peace plan that gives both Israelis and Palestinians a guarantee of security is inconsistent with a peaceful conclusion to this age-old conflict. I will stand by Israel, but I will not stand and cheer its current Prime Minister at tomorrow’s Joint Session.”
• Escobar (D-TX) 7/24/24: Congresswoman Escobar Statement on Prime Minister Netanyahu Address [“An invitation to address a Joint Session of Congress is among the highest honors our government can grant a foreign leader. It is a privilege to speak directly to the American public and the world. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is unworthy of this invitation. His reckless execution of the war in Gaza demonstrates his disinterest in mitigating the loss of civilian life, abiding by international law, or prioritizing the return of hostages – whose families I will meet with today. One can support Israel’s right to self-defense without the unconditional support for its current government that some demand. I will not be in attendance.”]
• Eshoo (D-CA) 7/24/24: Eshoo Statement on Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Address to Congress [excerpt, “As a longtime friend of Israel, I made the difficult decision not to attend Prime Minister Netanyahu’s address to Congress because I cannot in good conscience applaud a man who has cynically pursued his political interests at the expense of Israelis and Palestinians alike.”]
• Foster (D-IL) 7/24/24: Foster Statement on Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Address to Congress
• Gomez (D-CA) 7/24/24: Gomez Calls on Netanyahu to Resign, Reiterates Support for Ceasefire
• Green (D-TX) 7/24/24: Congressman Al Green’s Statement on His Not Attending Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Address to Congress
• Jacobs (D-CA) 7/24/24: Rep. Sara Jacobs Pens MSNBC Op-Ed on Why She Won’t Attend PM Netanyahu’s Address to Congress [also see her op-ed – excerpt: “It’s never easy being Jewish in today’s world, but the past 10 months have been especially excruciating. Like millions of Jews around the world, I’m still grappling with the aftermath of Hamas’ horrific attack on Oct. 7 and the sharp rise in antisemitism that we’ve seen since. And I’ve also been deeply alarmed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s brutal, unrelenting military operation that has reportedly left more than 39,000 Palestinians dead. This response hasn’t been proportional, strategic or effective — and I can’t in good conscience condone it by attending Netanyahu’s joint address to Congress.”]
• Jayapal (D-WA) 7/24/24: Jayapal Statement on Netanyahu Address [“Prime Minister Netanyahu should not have been invited to come and speak to the U.S. Congress. I cannot in good conscience sit and listen to him speak as Palestinian people starve and hostages, including Israelis and Americans, remain in captivity. He has used US taxpayer dollars for a horrific assault on Gaza and the Palestinian people and continued to flout both international humanitarian law and our own US domestic law in denying humanitarian assistance to Gaza and launching indiscriminate attacks that have killed over 38,000 Palestinians and injured over 88,000…Tomorrow morning, I will join my colleagues in meeting with the families of hostages taken in the horrific October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel, to listen to and strategize on their efforts to bring their loved ones home and to give witness to their pain and suffering. And then, instead of attending Netanyahu’s address, I will attend a panel discussion led by the Center for American Progress and other organizations on the path to peace. This event will feature a Palestinian leader, an Jewish Israeli leader, and a former IDF soldier – all of whom are dedicated to finding a path toward peace and security for both Israelis and Palestinians. I am committed to working toward peace, security, and safety in the region for all people. That is not the path of the Netanyahu government.”]
• Kaine (D-VA) 7/23/24: Kaine Statement on Upcoming Speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu [“Due to a previously scheduled commitment in Virginia, I am not able to attend this Wednesday’s speech. But it remains clear that the security of Israel and U.S. servicemembers in the region are immediately dependent on steps toward a deal to release hostages held by Hamas, establish a durable ceasefire, and increase humanitarian aid into Gaza. I would expect any leader in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s position to use this speech as an opportunity to provide an update on those matters.”]
  
• King (I-ME) 7/24/24: King Releases Statement on Decision to Not Attend Netanyahu Speech to Joint Session of Congress [excerpt: “While I am and always have been an unwavering supporter of Israel — and Israel’s right to defend itself and defeat Hamas after October 7 — I strongly disagree with the Netanyahu government’s initial conduct of the war and, especially, its current lack of postwar planning for Gaza and the risks that poses to long-term regional stability. For this reason I have made the decision to not attend today’s Joint Session of Congress...”]
• Lofgren (D-CA) 7/24/24: Rep. Lofgren: “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Address to Congress Became Political Instead of Productive”
• McCollum (D-MN) 7/23/24: Congresswoman McCollum Statement on Prime Minister Netanyahu Speech to Congress [“I plan to listen to the Israeli Prime Minister’s speech from my office. The Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023, were a heinous act that cannot ever be excused. Israel has the right to self-defense.  However, this speech is not about the survival of Israel, it’s about Prime Minister Netanyahu’s domestic political survival...”]
• McCollum (D-MN) 7/24/24: Congresswoman McCollum Statement following Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Speech to Congress [“Today’s speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was outrageous.  He disrespected his role as a foreign leader speaking before a joint session of Congress. He used the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives to make blatantly political attacks on American citizens who disagree with his policies. He also made a full endorsement of former President Trump. One wonders if the Prime Minister’s attacks were an attempt to salvage his own political survival in Israel by making it appear that he has the full support of the American people, which he does not.  This was a disturbing day for many Americans and a tragic day for Israelis and Palestinians who are desperately looking for leadership – not political grandstanding. What the American people want, and what Prime Minister Netanyahu failed to deliver, was a clear plan to end the violence and bring about a lasting two state solution in the region.”]
• Massie (R-KY) 7/24/24: X-post – “Today Congress will undertake political theater on behalf of the State Department. The purpose of having Netanyahu address Congress is to bolster his political standing in Israel and to quell int’l opposition to his war. I don’t feel like being a prop so I won’t be attending.“
• Merkley (D-OR) 7/24/24: Merkley Statement on Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Address to Congress [“I did not attend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress.  I was horrified by Hamas’ horrific terrorist attack on October 7th and fully support Israel’s right to go after Hamas. But how they do so matters. Netanyahu’s war strategy in Gaza is at odds with American values and law. His government’s campaign of indiscriminate bombing has driven 1.9 million people from their homes and killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians—tens of thousands of whom are women and children. In addition, his government’s restrictions on humanitarian aid have brought Gaza to the brink of famine. This continues to drive further cycles of violence, radicalization, and instability. Netanyahu’s strategy has been to prioritize his political survival over peace and the return of hostages. A permanent ceasefire remains the only path to an end of war including the release of all remaining hostages, delivery of massive amounts of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and the creation of conditions for lasting peace.”]
• Merkley (D-OR) 7/22/24: X-post – “I will not attend Netanyahu’s speech. Following Hamas’ horrific attack, Netanyahu’s war strategy killed 12,000+ women and children, inflicted widespread starvation, and prioritized his political survival over the release of hostages. He should not have a platform before Congress.“
• Moore (D-WI) 7/24/24: Moore Statement on Not Attending Prime Minister Netanyahu Address to Congress [“I continue to stand with the people of Israel, which is why I strongly support the ongoing efforts of President Biden and his Administration to support them and innocent Palestinians by working to reach a ceasefire deal that will ensure the remaining hostages are released, end current fighting and supply more aid to address the humanitarian crisis facing Palestinians, while setting up a path to end violence long term and work toward a two-state solution. The Prime Minister’s speech will not bring us any closer to achieving those goals given his record of publicly snubbing President Biden’s efforts to advance peace, dismissing the two-state solution, and failing to reign in the extremists in his coalition. What Israel and the Palestinians need is a new direction in this conflict, not another speech in the well of the House.”]
• Murphy (D-CT) 7/24/24: Murphy Statement On Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Address To Congress [excerpt, “…today’s speech was a setback for both the U.S.-Israel relationship and the fight against Hamas. Rather than lay out a path for achieving the peace agreement President Biden outlined two months ago to secure the long-term security of Israelis and Palestinians, Prime Minister Netanyahu used this speech as an opportunity to insert himself into American politics. His insistence on downplaying the humanitarian crisis in Gaza was astonishing to hear, and the suggestion that any American who objects to the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent Gazans is a Hamas sympathizer was way out of bounds. The truth is that the civilian deaths in Gaza will be bulletin board recruiting material for terrorists for years to come, increasing threats to both the U.S. and Israel. This was a speech designed to bolster Prime Minister Netanyahu’s political standing and Republican messaging. His time would have been better spent in Israel finalizing a deal to end the war and bring the hostages home.”]
• Nadler (D-NY) 7/23/24: Nadler on PM Netanyahu Joint Address [excerpt: “Benjamin Netanyahu is the worst leader in Jewish history since the Maccabean king who invited the Romans into Jerusalem over 2100 years ago. Prime Minister Netanyahu’s address to a joint session of Congress is not in service of furthering the deep ties that bind the United States and Israel together, but rather is a cynical stunt aimed at aiding his own desperate political standing at home and meddling in domestic American politics only months before a highly consequential election. Prime Minister Netanyahu and his American allies are seeking to use the United States Congress, the greatest legislative body in the world, as the set for their next partisan advertisement, casting elected Members of Congress as glorified extras. There is no question in my mind that tomorrow’s speech should not be happening.“]. Also see Nadler X-post 7/24/24 just before Bibi’s address – “Getting ready for today’s speech with some essential history reading of @BenCaspit’s “The Netanyahu Years.” A very interesting read.“
• Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) 7/23/24: X-post – “It is a dark day in US history when an authoritarian with warrant requests from the International Criminal Court is allowed to address a joint session of Congress. 40k Palestinians are dead. Hostages aren’t home. Netanyahu is a war criminal. I will be boycotting his address.“
• Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) 7/23/24: X-post – “It is a dark day in US history when an authoritarian with warrant requests from the International Criminal Court is allowed to address a joint session of Congress. 40k Palestinians are dead. Hostages aren’t home. Netanyahu is a war criminal. I will be boycotting his address.“
• Omar (D-MN) 7/24/24: Rep. Omar’s Statement on Benjamin Netanyahu’s Address to Congress
• Pelosi (D-CA) 7/24/24: X-post – “Benjamin Netanyahu’s presentation in the House Chamber today was by far the worst presentation of any foreign dignitary invited and honored with the privilege of addressing the Congress of the United States. Many of us who love Israel spent time today listening to Israeli citizens whose families have suffered in the wake of the October 7th Hamas terror attack and kidnappings.  These families are asking for a ceasefire deal that will bring the hostages home – and we hope the Prime Minister would spend his time achieving that goal.“
• Pingree (D-ME) 7/24/24: Pingree to Skip Netanyahu Address, Citing the Appalling Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza and Long History of Failed Leadership [“Rather than support Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu’s misuse of a Congressional platform, this morning Pingree joined her Congressional colleagues for a meeting with the families of innocent Israeli hostages”]
• Pocan (D-WI) 7/24/24: Pocan to Boycott Netanyahu Congressional Address [“For nearly 10 months, Netanyahu has waged a deadly and excessive response that has targeted Gazan civilians. It is wildly inappropriate to give the distinct honor of addressing Congress to a man who has violated international human rights law so severely that an arrest warrant for war crimes has been recommended by the International Criminal Court. I regret that one has not been issued yet, as I would have gladly served it to him on the House floor. Additionally, he’s failed to rescue or secure the release of the more than 100 of his citizens who remain hostages of Hamas, while ignoring the pleas of their family members to bring them home. It’s time for Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire now and get the hostages back.”]
• Pressley (D-MA) 7/24/24: Rep. Pressley’s Statement on Netanyahu Visit to Congress [“Congresswoman Will Not Attend Speech, Will Spend Day Centering Families Impacted by Horrific War”]
• Raskin (D-MD) 7/24/24: Representative Raskin to Highlight Families of Hostages at Netanyahu Address Jayapal (D-WA) 7/24/24: X-post – “Prime Minister Netanyahu should not have been invited to speak to Congress. Today, instead of listening to his address, I joined an event with @amprog that brought together Palestinian and Israeli activists to engage in a real discussion about how we end this conflict.“
• Ramirez (D-IL) 7/23/24: X-post (with video of her speech on the House floor) – “Tomorrow, Congress will host an International Court-accused war criminal. We cannot work towards peace while giving Netanyahu the floor. We must listen to the American people and subject matter experts, like Major Harrison Mann, and demand an end to the atrocities. Not one more cent, not one more bomb, not one more excuse!“
• Sánchez (D-CA) 7/24/24: Sánchez condemns Netanyahu’s speech [“I attended Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech in hopes of hearing some path forward to peace. Instead, all Congress got was more justification for his administration’s disproportional response in Gaza. Netanyahu continues to use the atrocities of October 7th to wage a war that has resulted in the mass casualty of Palestinian civilians, jeopardizing the two-state solution and any chance for lasting peace. I remain committed to a ceasefire and call on Hamas to release the remaining hostages. But that will only happen through meaningful dialogue and diplomacy, not more fiery rhetoric like we heard today.”]
• Sanders (I-VT) 7/23/24: PREPARED REMARKS: Sanders on Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Upcoming Speech [“We Should Not Invite a War Criminal to Address Congress”]
• Sanders (I-VT) 7/22/24: X-post – “No, Netanyahu should not be welcomed into the U.S. Congress. On the contrary, his policies in Gaza and the West Bank and his refusal to support a two-state solution should be roundly condemned. As I stated last month, I will not be attending his address.“
• Schakowsky (D-IL) 7/24/24: Schakowsky Statement on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Joint Address to Congress
• Schatz (D-HI) 7/19/24: statement – “Nine months after the atrocities of October 7 and the ensuing conflict, negotiations for a ceasefire and the release of all hostages are ongoing – and that should be the focus. Instead, Prime Minister Netanyahu is set to deliver what is clearly a partisan address to Congress just months ahead of our elections. As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I welcome a substantive discussion about the future, not political rhetoric that will do nothing to bring peace in the region. I therefore will not attend Wednesday’s address.”
• Takano (D-CA) 7/23/24: Rep. Takano Statement on Not Attending Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Joint Address to Congress [“For weeks I have wrestled with whether or not to attend Prime Minister Netanyahu’s joint address before Congress. In recent months, I’ve grown increasingly troubled by Mr. Netanyahu’s actions, which have sought to further his own political survival rather than securing the return of hostages and a much-needed ceasefire. As someone who cares deeply about Israel, I recognize that any path towards a permanent peace must begin with a bilateral ceasefire. Mr. Netanyahu has consistently demonstrated that he is an obstacle to the peace that both Israelis and Palestinians alike deserve. It is apparent Republican leadership have given this platform to the Prime Minister in order to sow division amongst Members of Congress during this precarious time. Rather than engage in political games, I plan to meet with Israeli citizens during the morning of the address to support families that have suffered in the wake of the October 7th attack. It is critical to elevate the stories of those who were directly affected by the initial attack and who have further suffered due to Netanyahu’s indifference to securing the return of hostages still held by Hamas. The Prime Minister has shown us time and time again his disinterest in achieving a peace that would bring safety and security to Israelis and Palestinians. He has prolonged the conflict that arose after Hamas’s unprovoked attack, has ignored the pleas of Israeli citizens to focus on bringing home the remaining hostages, and has rebuffed concerns from Israel’s allies about the growing humanitarian cost this war is placing on innocent Palestinians. For those reasons I will not be attending the joint address.“]
• Tonko (D-NY) 7/24/24: Tonko Statement on Netanyahu Address [“I, many of my constituents, and countless more across the globe have stood united in an urgent call for a ceasefire. A ceasefire is the only path forward that will put an end to the violence in Gaza, bring the remaining Israeli hostages home and deliver essential humanitarian aid. I am more than ready to have meaningful discussions about how to end the violence and bring lasting peace to the region. But—through his words and actions—Prime Minister Netanyahu has made clear he has no intention to do that with his address. For that reason, I will not attend. I will be spending today, and the days that follow, conferring and standing with members of Congress, families of hostages, and Palestinian and Israeli leaders who are pursuing a path towards peace.“]
• Tlaib (D-MI) 7/24/24: X-post – “I will never back down in speaking truth to power. The apartheid government of Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians. Palestinians will not be erased. Solidarity with all those outside of these walls in the streets protesting and exercising their right to dissent.“
• Tlaib (D-MI) 7/24/24: X-thread – “Joining me in the chamber today is Hani Almadhoun, who has lost over 150 members of his extended family in Netanyahu’s genocide. After witnessing his sister forced to eat animal feed, he and his family were determined to start a soup kitchen to feed their starving neighbors. The Israeli apartheid regime is using starvation as a weapon of war, a war crime. They will not erase us. Palestinians exist and we deserve to live. Our presence today will be a reminder that we aren’t going anywhere.“
• Tlaib (D-MI) 7/23/24: Tlaib Statement on War Criminal Netanyahu’s Address to Congress [“Netanyahu is a war criminal committing genocide against the Palestinian people. It is utterly disgraceful that leaders from both parties have invited him to address Congress. He should be arrested and sent to the International Criminal Court…Make no mistake: this event is a celebration of the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. It is a sad day for our democracy when my colleagues will smile for a photo op with a man who is actively committing genocide. It is hypocritical to claim to be concerned about the massive death toll of innocent civilians, and then turn around and welcome the person responsible for these war crimes to our Capitol. Their silence is betrayal, and history will remember them accordingly. Our government must stop supporting and funding this genocide now.”]
• Van Hollen (D-MD) 7/24/24: Van Hollen Floor Speech on Decision Not to Attend Netanyahu Address [WORTH READING IN FULL! excerpt: “…I will not be party to a spectacle that will inevitably be used to create the illusion that Prime Minister Netanyahu is the protector of the U.S.-Israel relationship. He is not. As many hostages’ families have said, it would be better for him to have stayed home and prioritized the release of their loved ones. Those who really care about the relationship will work to ensure that it’s based on our shared values, and as the points I made today reveal, that is not happening right now. The Prime Minister and his extremist partners are undermining those shared values. So, Mr. President, while I will continue to fight for a strong U.S.-Israel relationship based on shared values, I will not attend the joint session with Prime Minister Netanyahu tomorrow.”]
• Watson Coleman (D-NJ) 7/23/24: Rep. Watson Coleman Will Not Attend Netanyahu Address “I am deeply disappointed that Prime Minister Netanyahu will be addressing Congress tomorrow. A foreign head of government speaking directly to the legislative branch is a distinct honor that should be reserved for revered world leaders. Prime Minister Netanyahu has shown himself to be nothing of the sort. He has shown himself to be a war criminal. What began as a defensive operation in the wake of the horrific terrorist attacks of October 7th quickly turned into a campaign of total destruction. Over the past 9 months, over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed – most of whom are women and children. Roughly 1.1 million Palestinians are facing starvation – half the population of Gaza. Schools, homes, hospitals, mosques, all have been destroyed and 85 percent of the population has been displaced. Prime Minister Netanyahu has at every turn disregarded the safety of the Palestinian and Israeli people and ignored the reasonable requests of the United States. He has abandoned a two-state solution, the only viable option for an enduring peace. Time and again he has thumbed his nose at our country. His conduct has been both inhumane and disrespectful. I will not be attending his address.”
• Welch (D-VT) 7/23/24: Welch on Senate Floor: I will not be attending Prime Minister Netanyahu’s address tomorrow. [excerpt: “…While I welcome a constructive discussion on how to end this conflict and achieve lasting peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians, I am not interested in participating in a political stunt. We, the United States, have a moral responsibility to do everything we can to help end this war and prevent further loss of innocent lives. That includes holding our allies and partners to the same standards that we expect of ourselves, and the rest of the world.”]

Greater WRATH over anti-Bibi Protests that over Actual Genocide 

• Thune (R-SD) 7/25/24: Thune: The Senate Must Do More to Protect Our Nation
• Hoyer (D-MD) 7/25/24: Hoyer: Hatred and Bigotry Endanger Not Only Jews, but Democracy Itself
• Schiff (D-CA) 7/25/24: Rep. Schiff Statement on Violent Anti-Israel Protests in Washington D.C.
• Jewish News Syndicate 7/25/24: ‘Despicable acts by unpatriotic protesters’ at Union Station, Harris says [“‘I support the right to peacefully protest, but let’s be clear: antisemitism, hate and violence of any kind have no place in our nation,’ the vice president said.”]
• Jewish Insider 7/25/24: McConnell urges DOJ to pursue pro-Hamas Union Station protesters with ‘equal vigor’ to Jan. 6 cases
• Jewish Insider 7/25/24: Congressional Democratic leaders condemn pro-Hamas demonstration in D.C.
• McConnell (R-KY) 7/25/24: Israel Sends Message Of Resolve Against Terror, Hamasniks Respond With Violence And Lawlessness
• Free Beacon 7/24/24: Pro-Hamas Agitators Burn American Flag and Foist Palestinian Flag Over Union Station as Bibi Addresses Congress
• Jewish Insider 7/24/24: Legislators condemn pro-Hamas protest against Netanyahu’s congressional speech
• Huffington Post 7/24/24: ‘Monstrous’: Hear From An Israeli Hostage’s Relative Arrested During Netanyahu’s Speech To Congress
• Axios 7/24/24: Six spectators charged for “disrupting” Netanyahu speech [“All the guests who were arrested are family members of hostages who are either currently held by Hamas or died in captivity.“]

Bibi on the Hill – media re: attendance

• Zeteo 7/25/24: EXCLUSIVE: Rashida Tlaib Speaks to Zeteo on Netanyahu’s Visit to D.C.
• Jewish Insider 7/24/24: Inside the chamber at Netanyahu’s address to Congress — Who stood, who remained seated — and the bold-face names there to take it all in
• Free Beacon 7/24/24: Bush, Tlaib Accuse Congress of Celebrating Genocide by Hosting Netanyahu as Mainstream Democrats Follow Squad’s Lead in Boycotting Bibi Speech
• Axios 7/24/24: Around half of Congress’ Democrats skip Netanyahu speech
• Axios 7/24/24: Sweeping bipartisan Netanyahu boycott grows to include Pelosi
• The New Republic 7/24/24: MAGA Republican Takes Shocking Stand on Netanyahu’s Speech to Congress [“Representative Thomas Massie broke with his party and took aim at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and AIPAC.“]
• Newsweek 7/24/24: Republican [Massie, R-KY] Refuses to Attend Netanyahu Speech After Mike Johnson’s Warning
• Mother Jones 7/24/24: The Pushback Against Netanyahu’s Visit to Congress
• Politico 7/23/24: Capitol Hill’s Netanyahu speech no-shows
• CNN 7/23/24: Progressive House Democrats plan counter-programming to Netanyahu visit
• WGNTV 7/23/24: Illinois congresswoman to skip Netanyahu’s visit to D.C.
• The Intercept 7/23/24: Dozens of Lawmakers Are Protesting Netanyahu — but Have Little to Say About Israel’s Systemic Abuses of Palestinians — Most lawmakers explained their boycott by focusing on the Israeli prime minister himself as a bad actor, rather than the system he represents.
• Common Dreams 7/22/24: Calls to Boycott Netanyahu Speech Grow as Israeli PM Heads to DC
• The Hill 7/22/24: Vance not attending Netanyahu speech to Congress

Bibi on the Hill – media re: the speech/message

• Jewish News Syndicate 7/25/24: Pelosi calls Netanyahu’s speech to Congress ‘worst’ of any foreign leader [“The verbal tongue-lashing by the longtime representative from California and former Speaker of the House highlights a widening rift between Democrats and Israel.”]
• Jewish Insider 7/25/24: Hill gives mixed response to Netanyahu’s congressional address [“Republicans and some pro-Israel Democrats praised Netanyahu’s forceful message, while other Democrats and family members of hostages criticized the speech“]
• Jewish News Syndicate 7/25/24: Netanyahu’s address to Congress ‘gutsy’ to some members of Congress, old news to others [“‘He was fiery, and he got a very enthusiastic response,’ said Rep. Brad Sherman, a Jewish congressman from California, who was looking for more details about ending the war.“]
• Zereo/Mehdi Hassan 7/25/24: What Netanyahu Didn’t Tell Congress –I debunk five of the Israeli prime minister’s biggest lies in Washington D.C.
• Jewish Insider 7/24/24: Netanyahu’s Hill speech forcefully rebuts Israel’s detractors, draws polarized response [“The hour-long address drew frequent applause from those who attended, but a sizable number of Democrats either boycotted or remained seated”]
• Huffington Post 7/24/24: Netanyahu Speech To Congress Underscores U.S. Complicity In Gaza War
• Jewish Insider 7/24/24: In Congress speech, Netanyahu to present ‘new way’ to counter Iranian threat [“The prime minister made last minute tweaks to his speech on Tuesday with adviser Ron Dermer and national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi”]
• Haaretz 7/24/24: Netanyahu Will Warn Congress About Iranian Aggression. But His Iran Policy Has Been a Colossal Failure
• Mondoweiss 7/24/24: Wanted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu addresses Congress
• Jewish Insider 7/23/24: U.S. hostages’ families call on Netanyahu to announce deal in Congress speech
• Jewish News Syndicate 7/23/24: In address to Congress, Netanyahu to reveal ‘new way’ of dealing with Iran
• Jewish News Syndicate 7/21/24: Netanyahu urged to denounce Judea and Samaria sanctions to Congress [“Fifty-five Knesset members ask PM to “make it clear that Israel will not be able to let such severe decisions go unanswered.”]
• Mondoweiss 7/20/24: Netanyahu’s speech to Congress will seek to maintain support for genocide

Bibi on the Hill:  analyses of the speech/appearance

• Center for International Policy 7/25/24: A Diminished Netanyahu Meets Growing Protest in Congress
• The Guardian 7/25/24: Netanyahu is presiding over a sharp decline in the US’s pro-Israel consensus
• The New Republic 7/24/24: “Utterly Immoral and Cruel”: Ilhan Omar Tears Into Netanyahu [Netanyahu is a “war criminal who is actively committing genocide against the Palestinian people,” Omar warned before his speech to Congress.]
• Responsible Statecraft 7/23/24: Bibi’s bullying visits to Congress never end well
• Newsweek 7/23/24: Democrats Snub Netanyahu Address as Trump to Welcome Him to Mar-a-Lago
• KTLA 7/23/24: Netanyahu’s visit to D.C. causes division in Congress
• The Forward 7/23/24: ‘He should go and stay’: As Netanyahu visits Congress, Israelis at home are tired of the act
• Jewish Insider 7/22/24: Netanyahu heads to Washington for Congress speech, Biden meeting
• Haaretz 7/21/24: How Three Democrats Paved the Way for Netanyahu’s ‘Total Victory’ in Washington [“Three politicians, all of them Democrats, bear responsibility for this astonishing turn of events: Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, two weak, cowardly “leaders” who are too lazy to try and understand what Israelis actually think about the invitation they sent to Netanyahu; and Biden, a good man with outdated views of the U.S.-Israel relationship, who has refused to adapt to changing realities – and will pay a political price for it.“]
• Jewish News Syndicate 7/21/24: The implications and audiences of Netanyahu’s address to Congress [“Netanyahu understands that the entire world will be paying attention to this high-stakes address, even amid other global crises. He is likely writing his speech specifically with several different audiences in mind.“]

Bibi on the Hill: Bibi’s Fellow Travelers

• Jewish Insider 7/26/24: Sen. Mitch McConnell in conversation with Jewish Insider [“McConnell sat down with JI to discuss rising antisemitism and Israel opposition after Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s joint address to Congress”]
• The Intercept 7/24/24: Netanyahu Insulted and Smeared the Pro-Palestine Protest Movement. Congress Clapped. [“Organizers say attacks from the Israeli prime minister, who faces charges of war crimes, showed the strength of their movement.“]
• Foxx (R-NC) 7/24/24: Chair Foxx: College Students, Stop Being “Iran’s Useful Idiots” [““Prime Minister Netanyahu laid out the clearest case yet as to why it’s vital to root out antisemitism here in America: not only is it a matter of right versus wrong, but it also emboldens our adversaries. That’s why the Committee’s investigation into antisemitism will and must continue. To those who participated in illegal encampments, harassed Jewish peers, and chanted ‘from the river to the sea’ on college campuses: stop being ‘Iran’s useful idiots.’ Stand with our ally Israel and stand for the democratic values that make our two nations great.”]
• Free Beacon 7/24/24: WATCH: Netanyahu Praises UNC Frat Bros, Republicans Chant ‘USA’ While Democrats Pout
• Jewish News Syndicate 7/24/24: Netanyahu meets evangelical leaders ahead of Congress address
• Foxx (R-NC) 7/23/24: floor speech — Freedom’s Threat: Antisemitism [“I rise today to support Prime Minister Netanyahu in the just cause of eliminating Hamas. Soon, the Prime Minister will address the People’s House. As he speaks, we will be reminded of the mounting peril facing America and our allies around the world. In the struggle for freedom and democracy against antisemitism and terror, the Committee on Education and the Workforce is proud to do its part. We’ve held countless hearings exposing the roots of antisemitism on the home front and will continue to do so. The success of this vital mission will help decide whether America remains safe for the Jewish people. As Ronald Reagan once said: ‘Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.’  His words ring especially true today—not since WWII have the stakes felt so high.”]

Other stuff

• Banks (R-IN) 7/25/24: White House Refusing to Impose Iran Sanctions Required by Rep. Banks’ MAHSA Act
• Daines (R-MT) 7/25/24: Daines on CNBC: “The Iranians would love to see Kamala Harris Elected as President of the United States.”
• The Free Beacon 7/24/24: Biden-Harris Admin Fails To Produce Congressionally Mandated Report on Iranian Human Rights Abuses
• Jewish News Syndicate 7/24/24: Capitol Police arrest 200 protesting military aid to Israel [“The protest, organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, was held inside the congressional Cannon House Office Building.“]
• The Intercept 7/24/24: Rights Groups Demand Biden Give Answers on Israel’s Secret Influence Campaign on Congress [“Ahead of Netanyahu’s speech to Congress, rights groups decried the secret social media campaign to prop up support for Israel.“]
• Mondoweiss 7/23/24: Pro-Palestine orgs and lawmakers react to Biden dropping out
• Jayapal (D-WA) 7/23/24: X-thread – “This is extremely important. There is an effort to say that Netanyahu’s war on Gaza and Palestinians only matters to a small group of people, but that is not the case. This issue matters to a broad swath of voters including unions, working people, Black, Brown, & young people. They don’t want the US violating our own domestic laws and international law by sending offensive military assistance to a government that has killed over 38,000 Palestinians and does not support our own stated policy of a two-state solution.” [Responding to X-thread by Dave Jamieson – “Seven major unions just sent a joint letter to Biden calling on him to “immediately halt all military aid to Israel” ahead of Netanyahu’s visit to Washington: –SEIU –NEA –UAW –UE –APWU (postal workers) –AFA (flight attendants) –IUPAT (painters) | Below is the full letter the 7 unions sent to Biden. “Recent reports only underscore the urgency of our demands. Large numbers of Palestinian civilians, many of them children, continue to be killed, reportedly often with US manufactured bombs.“]
• McCaul (R-TX) & Meeks (D-NY) 7/21/24: McCaul, Meeks Condemn Houthis’ Attack on Tel Aviv
• Bush (D-MO) 7/20/24: Congresswoman Bush Statement on the International Court of Justice’s Landmark Advisory Opinion
• Kaine (D-VA) 7/19/24: Kaine Statement on Knesset Vote Rejecting Establishment of Palestinian State
• Jewish Insider 7/19/24: Bipartisan lineup of lawmakers demand Houthis get listed as a foreign terrorist organization
• Stefanik (R-NY) 7/19/24: Stefanik Statement on Houthi Terror Attack Near U.S. Consulate in Tel Aviv

1. Bills, Resolutions
2. Letters
3. Hearings
4. Israel/Palestine in 2024 Elex/Politics
5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

New:

• New episode of FMEP’s Occupied Thoughts podcast, The Core Truths About Palestine and Israel, ft. FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaking with Ahmed Moor, a Palestinian-American writer who was born and raised in Gaza, about why Israel/Palestine is not exceptional, why Palestinians turn to armed resistance, and why neither Palestinians nor Jewish Israelis will leave the land between the Jordan river and the Mediterranean Sea.

1. Bills & Resolutions

(AMIA BOMBING) S. Res. 758: Introduced 7/10/24 by Rubio (R-FL) and Cardin (D-MD), “A resolution remembering the 32nd anniversary of the bombing of the Embassy of Israel in Buenos Aires on March 17, 1992, and the 30th anniversary of the bombing of the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association building in Buenos Aires on July 18, 1994, and recommitting to efforts to uphold justice for the victims of the attacks.”  Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. Also see: Press releases — Rubio, Cardin Introduce Resolution Honoring Victims of Terrorist Attacks Against Argentina’s Jewish Community; Cardin, Rubio Resolution Honors Argentina’s Jewish Community, Victims of Terrorist Attacks

===========

(ISRAEL/ANTISEMITISM IN LABOR/HHS APPROPS) HB 2909: Introduced 7/12/24 by Aderholt (R-AL), the “Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025.” Introduced following mark-up in the full Appropriations Committee on 7/10/24 (where it was passed by a vote of 31-25).

• The bill itself includes Section 537: “(a) None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be made available to a United States institution of higher education unless and until such institution adopts a prohibition on antisemitic conduct that creates a hostile environment in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in all documents relating to student or employee conduct.  (b) None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be made available to a United States institution of higher education that has failed to take administrative action against any student, staff member, or student group that commits acts of antisemitism while utilizing the facilities, grounds, or resources of such institution.“
• The Report accompanying the bill includes: “The Committee provides $4,000,000, which is the same as the fiscal year 2024 enacted level and $4,000,000 above the fiscal year 2025 budget request, for a bilateral cooperative program with the Government of Israel for the development of health technologies.” Also includes: “Antisemitism Investigations.—The Committee is concerned by the explosion of antisemitism at IHEs across the U.S. following the terrorist attack on Israel and the subsequent failure of many IHEs to address antisemitic conduct on their campuses. It is unclear what actions OCR has taken to date in response to the numerous complaints received. The Committee requests that OCR produce a quarterly report on the status of OCR shared ancestry investigations and provide an initial report to the Committee and the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate no later than 30 days after enactment of this Act. Such report should include a brief overview, including timeline, status of the investigation, and any actions taken by the Department.”

(b) The FY25 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act,  marked up in Committee 7/9/24 and passed by a vote of 30-26.

• Report text includes: “Within International Affairs, the recommendation includes $2,000,000 for the Israel Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation and $4,000,000 to continue the U.S. Israel Center of Excellence in Energy Engineering and Water Technology.“

=============

(Senate NDAA) S. 4638: Introduced 7/8/24 by Reed (D-RI), the “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025.” This is the bill that will have to be reconciled, eventually, with the version passed by the House 6/14/24 HR 8070, covered in excruciating detail in the 6/14/24 edition of the Round-Up, and in the accompany special Round-Up analysis, Middle East provisions in the House version of the FY25 NDAA. NOTE: JINSA has produced a super useful analysis, A Long, Hot Summer for National Defense Authorization Act Negotiations Begins, which includes a detailed inventory/comparison of Middle East-related provisions in both the House and Senate bills.

Given that the NDAA is a must-pass piece of legislation, it always attracts a huge number of (mainly grandstanding, point-scoring, totally non-germane) amendments. Given that it is an election year, plus given that Israel is in its 9th month of erasing Gaza, there is the usual (and then some) flood of “WE STAND WITH ISRAEL” and “F**K THE PALESTINIANS AND ANYONE WHO SUPPORTS THEM” amendments (plus some others, including of course related to GETTING TOUGH, FINALLY! on Iran).

Text of all 842 amendments — introduced 7/9/24, 7/10/24, 7/11/24 (my thread: https://x.com/LaraFriedmanDC/status/1812946993620394294)

• [LEGISLATING THE IHRA DEFINITION] S. Amdt. 2914: Offered by Casey (D-PA), to attach to the NDAA the “Antisemitism Awareness Act” – legislating/enforcing the IHRA definition of antisemitism, including its examples.
• [BARRING AID TO PALESTINIANS] S. Amdt. 2823: Offered by Ricketts (R-NE) and Scott (R-SC), to amend existing law to massively expand existing restrictions/limitations on aid to the Palestinians (mainly by replacing the term “directly” with “directly or indirectly” – such that pretty much ANY assistance to Palestinians, including humanitarian aid, will be barred based on the argument that it “indirectly” benefits a terrorist organization.
• [SEEKING TO BLOCK WORLD BANK/IMF PROJECTS FOR PALESTINIANS] S. Amdt. 2767: Offered by Scott (R-SC), requiring the US to use its position in the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund to “oppose all projects relating to the Palestinian Authority or territories of the West Bank or Gaza Strip” until Hamas, PIJ, “or any successor organization” has been totally vanquished from the West Bank and Gaza. Also, same for Yemen, Lebanon, and Iraq (no projects until Houthis, Hizbollah, and Kata’ib Hizballah. respectively, are utterly vanquished).
• [US ADMIN MUST PROVIDE ALL AID TO ISRAEL] S. Amdt. 2747: Offered 7/11/24 by Cruz (R-TX), compelling the Biden Administration to provide all military support to Israel as approved by Congress (notwithstanding any other US laws)
• [NO NORMALIZING ASSAD REGIME] S. Amdt. 2713: Offered by Risch (R-ID), the “Assad Regime Anti-Normalization Act of 2024.”
• [US-ARAB ANTI-DRONE COOPERATION] S. Amdt. 2711: Offered by Risch (R-ID), granting authority for the U.S. to enter into a “Cooperative Agreement to Protect Americans in Iraq, Jordan, and on the Arabian Peninsula From Weaponized Unmanned Aerial Systems” with “partners in Iraq, Jordan, and on the Arabian Peninsula [the latter defined as: “Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.”
• [US ADMIN MUST PROVIDE ALL AID TO ISRAEL] S. Amdt. 2709 – Offered 7/11/24 by Risch (R-ID), to prevent any US president from suspending/freezing/with-holding of defense articles from Israel for any reason (including when required to do so under US law) without the explicit, advance approval of Congress
• [TARGETING PALESTINIAN REFUGEES, ENFORCING IHRA DEFINITION, SUPPORTING ETHNIC CLEANSING OF PALESTINIANS] S. Amdt. 2705: Offered 7/11/24 by Risch (R-ID), the “UNRWA Accountability and Transparency Act,” seeking to (a) define Palestinian refugees out of existence, (b) effectively impose a permanent ban all funding to UNRWA unless/until UNRWA meets a long list of requirements, some related to terror but some related to erasing Palestinian rights/claims, like requiring that nobody associated with UNRWA be permitted to describe Israelis as “occupiers” or “settlers”; (c) legislate & enforce the IHRA definition of antisemitism, including its examples [according to which the mere assertion of Palestinian history/rights is “antisemitic” and therefore disqualifying UNRWA from receiving US aid]; (d) make it US policy to encourage other countries to similarly re-define Palestinian refugees to erase them from existence, to apply the same restrictions on UNRWA funding; and (2) to make it US policy to encourage and seek to shut down UNRWA and once and for all END the Palestinian refugee issue via permanent displacement/ethnic cleansing: “(C) working with other countries to phase out UNRWA and assist Palestinians receiving UNRWA services by– (i) integrating such Palestinians into their local communities in the countries in which they are residing; or (ii) resettling such Palestinians in countries other than Israel or territories controlled by Israel in the West Bank in accordance with international humanitarian principles; and (D) ensuring that the actions described in subparagraph (C)– (i) are being implemented in complete coordination with, and with the support of, Israel; and (ii) do not endanger the security of Israel in any way.”]
• [TARGETING THE ICC & ANYONE WHO WORKS WITH IT] S. Amdt. 2669: Offered 7/11/24 by Risch (R-ID), the “Prohibiting International Criminal Court Prosecutions Against Americans and Allies Act,” seeking to make it a criminal offense – punishable by up to $5 million in fines and 5 years in prison – for any person (and the bill explicitly includes extraterritorial jurisdiction) acting under the authority of the ICC or another international organization “to knowingly indict, apprehend, detain, prosecute, convict, or participate in the imposition or carrying out of any sentence or other penalty on, any protected person in connection with any proceeding by or before the International Criminal Court or another international organization in which such protected person is accused of a covered crime.” The term “protected person” is defined to mean: “(A) any citizen or national of the United States, or any other person employed by or working under the direction of the United States Government; or (B) any citizen or national of Israel, or any other person employed by or working under the direction of the Government of Israel.“
• [TARGETING THE PLO/PA & ANYONE ASSOCIATED WITH THEM] S. Amdt. 2522: Offered 7/11/24 by Cotton (R-AR), the “PLO and PA Terror Payments Accountability Act of 2024,” seeking to impose far-reaching sanctions (blocking property, barring & revoking visas), on anyone who is or ever has been in any way associated with the PLO or PA, and imposing far-reaching sanctions on any financial institutions that in any way engage with the PA or PLO — notwithstanding the fact that neither the PA or PLO are US-designated FTOs.
• [MORE $$ FOR US-ISRAEL PROGRAMS] S. Amdt. 2511: Offered 7/11/24 by Moran (R-KS), requiring the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of State, to “award grants to eligible entities to carry out collaborative research between the United States and Israel with respect to post-traumatic stress disorders.“
• [US-JORDAN DEFENSE COOPERATION] S. Amdt. 2439: Offered 7/11/24 by Rubio (R-FL), the “United States-Jordan Defense Cooperation“
• [IMPACT OF US SUPPORT FOR GAZA WAR ON US INTERESTS IN INDO=PACIFIC] S. Amdt. 2340: Offered 7/11/24 by Schatz (D-HI), requiring the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Secretary of State and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, to submit a report to Congress “regarding the impacts to United States security and diplomatic interests in the Indo-Pacific region as a result of the United States’ actions and engagements with Israel during the ongoing Israel-Hamas War.”
• [ASSESS INTELL LESSONS OF GAZA WAR] S. Amdt. 2274: Offered 7/11/24 by Warner (D-VA), seeking to attach the entirety of the “Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025” to the NDAA, including “Sec. 421. Inclusion of Hamas, Hezbollah, Al-Qaeda, and ISIS officials and members among aliens engaged in terrorist activity,” and “Sec. 438. Assessment of the lessons learned by the intelligence community with respect to the Israel-Hamas war.“
• [TARGETING THE ICC] S. Amdt. 2211: Offered by Cotton (R-AR), the “Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act,” imposing sanctions (blocking of property, denying/revoking visas) on any foreign person in any way engaged with or assisting the ICC in going after any “protected person.” The amendment defines “protected person” to include, “current or former elected or appointed government officials” of any ally of the United States.
• [FUNDING FOR KEY US GOVT FUNCTIONS CONDITIONED ON GIVING ALL AID TO ISRAEL] S. Amdt. 2210: Offered by Cotton (R-AR), the “Israel Security Assistance Support Act,” to (a) cut off salaries to employees of the Deptartment of State and DOD if they are engaged in withholding aid to Israel; and (b) to withhold funding to DOD, the State Dept, and the office of the President until all military aid for Israel has been released.
• [TARGETING IRAN] S. Amdt. 2204: Offered by Cotton (R-AR), the “No ICBMs for Iran Act of 2024,” imposing far-reaching new Iran sanctions and expanding existing sanctions,
• [TARGETING BOYCOTTS OF ISRAEL/SETTLEMENTS] S. Amdt. 2170: Offered by 7/10/24 by Scott (R-SC), to require the head of the Office of Antiboycott Compliance of the Bureau of Industry and Security of the Department of Commerce to submit to Congress “a report on boycotts targeted at the State of Israel or based on anti-Semitism.” [bearing in mind that for Scott and his ilk, the act of boycotting or calling for boycott of anything related to Israel is ipso facto antisemitic, and settlements are viewed as part of Israel…]
• [TARGETING IRAN] S. Amdt. 2167: Offered by 7/10/24 by Scott (R-SC), seeking to repeal the sunset of the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996

2. Letters

7/16/24: Walberg & Stefanik Lead Colleagues Outlining Concerns in Harvard’s Antisemitism Task Force Report [letter text]

3. Hearings & Markups

July 23, 2024: The House Ways and Means Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight will hold a hearing entitled, Fueling Chaos: Tracing the Flow of Tax-Exempt Dollars to Antisemitism. Also see press release [excerpt: “House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman David Schweikert (AZ-01) announced today that the Subcommittee on Oversight will hold a hearing to examine the use of American-based tax-exempt organizations to finance antisemitism in the United States and terrorism abroad, including the role of foreign adversaries.”]

July 23, 2024: The House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold an HFAC Member Roundtable with Families of U.S. Hostages Held by Hamas. Also see HFAC media advisory.

4. Israel/Palestine in 2024 Politics/Elex

Missouri

• Open Secrets: As of 7/19/24, the United Democracy Project has spent $4,790,093 to try to defeat Cori Bush in the 2024 primary.
• Jewish Insider 7/18/24: Linda Sarsour and Marc Lamont Hill speak at ‘Jews for Cori’ Bush fundraiser – the fundraiser was organized in conjunction with Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow
• Mondoweiss 7/18/24: AIPAC is spending big to beat Cori Bush
• Jewish Insider 7/18/24: Inside Wesley Bell’s Jewish turnout operation — Wesley Bell’s campaign against Rep. Cori Bush is mounting an aggressive push to bring Jewish voters out to the polls
• Democratic Majority for Israel 7/17/24: DMFI PAC announces new cable, broadcast, and digital ads in support of Wesley Bell and Yassamin Ansari
• Mondoweiss 7/17/24: ‘They are trying to buy this seat’: Can Cori Bush beat AIPAC?
• Washington Free Beacon 7/15/24: Anti-Israel ‘Squad’ Member Cori Bush Down 23 Points in Primary Poll

Minnesota

• Jewish Insider 7/19/24: Pro-Israel groups steering clear of Ilhan Omar, to her rival’s frustration
• Minnesota Reformer 7/16/24: Samuels undeterred by Omar’s massive cash advantage in Minnesota congressional race [“AIPAC and its super PAC, the United Democracy Project, did not respond to the Reformer’s requests for comment about whether they intend to spend in Omar’s primary race.“]

Other stuff

• Jewish Insider 7/18/24: Kustoff: Biden’s handling of antisemitism could lure Jews to back Trump — Tennessee lawmaker suggests Jewish voters will sense ‘not enough pushback on antisemitism’ from administration
• ABC News 7/17/24: Rep. David Kustoff (at RNC) says Israel’s fight against terror is also America’s battle
• Nebraska Examiner 7/17/24: Fundraising for Nebraska’s U.S. Senate races tilts toward GOP incumbents [“Ricketts has continued to garner support from many of the state’s top GOP supporters, as well as national donors, including some PACs supporting business groups. He also received the support of AIPAC, a group that backs the defense of Israel…“]
• Mondoweiss 7/16/24: The Shift: J.D. Vance’s anti-Palestine record – J.D. Vance is a strong supporter of Israel, and, like many U.S. Zionists, he attributes the allegiance to his Christianity.
• Press release 7/15/24: Imraan Siddiqi Posts $360K Fundraising Haul to Fight AIPAC and Kim Schrier
• Jewish News Syndicate 7/15/24: Republican Jewish Coalition endorses eight candidates taking on incumbents [“‘House Republicans have recruited an array of impressive challengers for the most competitive races,’ RJC leaders say.”]

5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

Bibi on the Hill

• Washington Free Beacon 7/18/24: Mike Johnson Vows To Arrest Congressional Officials Who Disrupt Netanyahu’s Floor Speech
• Washington Examiner 7/18/24: More than 200 congressional staffers voice protest against Netanyahu address
• Jerusalem Post 7/17/24: ‘A devious prime minister’: 500 Israeli academics ask Netanyahu be disinvited from US Congress

AMIA bombing anniversary

• Jewish Insider 7/19/24: Cardin: U.S. ‘could do more’ to seek justice for victims of AMIA bombing
• Cardin (D-MD) 7/18/24: Chair Cardin Honors Victims of AMIA Jewish Center Terrorist Attack in Argentina on 30th Anniversary

Congress in Israel

• Orthodox Times 7/19/24: U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen visited the Patriarchate of Jerusalem
• OPB 7/17/24: Conservative group made last-ditch play to influence Democratic primary in high-profile Oregon congressional race [“…In the Democratic race for Oregon’s 3rd Congressional District, a political action committee affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, spent millions of dollars attacking candidate Susheela Jayapal, a Multnomah County Commissioner, and supporting Maxine Dexter, a physician and state lawmaker who won that primary election.“]
• Office of the President of Israel 7/15/24: X-post (with pic) President @Isaac_Herzog met with a group of young staffers from US Congress: “It was a pleasure to welcome you all – especially those of you making your first visit to Israel. This is a complex and challenging region, but understanding and seeing firsthand the realities on the ground and the diverse and beautiful make up of Israeli society, is crucial in reinforcing the bipartisan, steadfast alliance between our two peoples. Welcome to Israel, I wish you much success.”
• Jewish Insider 7/15/24: Chris Van Hollen slated to travel to Israel this week [“The Maryland senator, who has been critical of Israel’s actions in its war against Hamas, is not slated to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Foreign Minister Israel Katz“]
• Feenstra (R-IA) 7/11/24: My Weekly Column: My trip to Israel [“...We walked the Kibbutzes where innocent Israelis were murdered, raped, beheaded, and tortured by Hamas terrorists and learned more of the horrifying details about the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust. We saw firsthand the food, water, medical supplies, and other aid that Israel is actively delivering to civilians in Palestine despite unfounded outcry from Hamas apologists.“]

Other stuff

• Rep. Lawler (R-NY) 7/18/24: X-post – “These global guidelines for combatting antisemitism underscore strong support for the IHRA definition of antisemitism. It’s time for Senator Schumer to bring up my bill for a vote which would codify this definition.” [responding to – U.S., 30 other nations unveil new ‘global guidelines’ to fight antisemitism (Jewish Insider 7/17/24)]
• Middle East Eye 7/15/24: Senior senators warn Israel-Saudi normalisation is slipping away from US
• Jewish Chronicle 7/15/24: Google’s £23 billion purchase of Israeli startup Wiz would be a ‘middle finger up to BDS’ [“Richie Torres, Member of the US House of Representatives, said the deal represesents [sic] ‘a $23 billion middle finger to the BDS movement against the Jewish State’. The politician, who has been outspoken in his support for Israel, continued ‘The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction movement should itself be boycotted, divested, and sanctioned’.“]
• Politico 7/12/24: A Palestinian push on Capitol Hill during NATO
• Common Dreams 7/12/24: ‘Every Single Senator Should Be Supporting’ Sanders Bid to Block Massive New Arms Sale to Israel
• Cardin (D-MD) press release 7/12/24: Chair Cardin Statement on Framework to Reach Ceasefire, Bring Hostages Home
• Sanders (I-VT) statement 7/12/24: “We Must Not Forget Gaza,” says Sanders

 

1. Bills, Resolutions
2. Letters
3. Hearings
4. Israel/Palestine in 2024 Elex/Politics
5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

New:

• Netroots Nation Conference (featured panel) 7/12/24: Defending Dissent: Palestine, Freedom of Speech, and the Future of Protest, organized by JustVision — ft. Suhad Babaa (JustVision/moderator), Fadi Abu Shammalah (Just Vision), Sabiya Ahmed (Palestine Legal), Lara Friedman (FMEP), Vincent Warren (Center for Constitutional Rights); Simone Zimmerman (Diaspora Alliance and co-founder of IfNotNow)
• New episode of FMEP’s Occupied Thoughts podcast, The Assault on the Khalidi Library in Jerusalem, ft. FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaking with Columbia Professor Emeritus Rashid Khalidi about how and why Jewish settlers are trying to take over the Khalidi Library in Jerusalem and the history of Israel’s treatment of Palestinian educational institutions. They also reflect on the current war, looking at its impact on Palestinians, on U.S. politics, and the ways in which it is strengthening Hamas.

1. Bills & Resolutions

Press releases 7/10/24 [no bill in Congressional Record as of 7/12/24]: Rubio, Cardin Introduce Resolution Honoring Victims of Terrorist Attacks Against Argentina’s Jewish Community; Cardin, Rubio Resolution Honors Argentina’s Jewish Community, Victims of Terrorist Attacks

(Senate NDAA) S. 4638: Introduced 7/8/24 by Reed (D-RI), the “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025.” Also see: Press release 7/8/24 — SASC Completes Markup of National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025; Executive Summary; Report; Jewish Insider 7/9/24: Senate defense bill pushes for review of U.S.-Qatar relationship. NOTE: Stay tuned for Israel/Middle East details of this bill in a future edition of the Round-Up.

2. Letters

• 7/11/24: Representatives Lawler and Torres Lead Letter Urging President Biden to Nominate Abraham Accords Special Envoy [letter text]. Also see: House lawmakers urge administration to ‘immediately’ nominate Abraham Accords ambassador [“33 lawmakers said Biden should name an envoy ‘as soon as possible,’ adding that they’re aware of no progress in that direction“] (Jewish Insider 7/11/24)
• 7/10/24: Rubio, Graham, to Biden DOJ: We Must Not Allow the CCP to Succeed in Information War Against Our Country [letter text]. The letter is focused on alleged Chinese efforts to “sow discord in the United States” on the wake of the Oct 7. 2023 Hamas attacks, and suggests that US protests of Israel’s war on Gaza reflect “attempts by our primary adversary to exploit our open system to promote its malign agenda.” The letter goes on to request a briefing on steps the Department of Justice and other US agencies are is taking to prevent such efforts, and specifically asks the briefing to address “investigative efforts” into a list of specific organizations “for potential violations of FARA.” That list includes: Code Pink, Shut It Down for Palestine, ANSWER Coalition, Al-Awda NY, National Students for Justice in Palestine, Palestinian Youth Movement, Palestinian American Community Center NJ, and Samidoun.
• 7/10/24: McCaul, Moolenaar Underscore Potential Risks, Request Intelligence Briefing on Microsoft’s Billion Dollar Partnership with UAE Firm G42 [letter text]
• 7/10/24: Graham: ODNI in Violation of Law for Failing to Report to Congress on Iran Nuclear Threat [letter text]. Also see: Graham to place hold on all ODNI nominations [“His move comes after the Office of the Director of National Intelligence missed deadlines for Iran nuclear program assessments”] (Jewish Insider 7/12/24)
• 7/9/24: Gottheimer, Bilirakis Lead Bipartisan Letter Urging Secretary Blinken to Address President Erdoğan’s Pro-Hamas, Anti-Israel Foreign Policy — Highlights Turkish leader’s repeated support of Hamas terrorists who perpetrated the October 7 attack on Israel [letter text]. Also see: Bipartisan group of lawmakers expresses ‘serious concerns’ about Erdoğan’s hostility toward Israel (Jewish Insider 7/9/24)
• 7/9/24: Smith, Comer, Foxx Demand DOJ Investigate The Palestine Chronicle for Providing Support to Terrorism, Potential Tax Crimes [letter text]. Also see: House committee chairs ask DOJ to investigate publication linked to Hamas affiliate who held hostages (Jewish Insider 7/10/24)

3. Hearings & Markups

July 9, 2024: The House Committee on Education and the Workforce’s Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing entitled, “Confronting Union Antisemitism: Protecting Workers from Big Labor Abuses” (hearing video). Witnesses were: Ilana Kopmar, Staff Attorney, Nassau County Legal Aid Society (statement); William Sussman, Graduate Student, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (statement); Anne Marie Lofaso, Professor of Law, West Virginia University College of Law (statement); and Glenn Taubman, Staff Attorney, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation (statement). Also see: Rep. Bob Good (R-VA) opening statement; Rep. Good press release – Chair Good Exposes Union Antisemitism and Big Labor Abuses. Also see: Congressional witnesses accuse unions of fostering hostile, antisemitic environments (Jewish Insider 7/10/24); House subcommittee hears testimony about Jew-hatred in labor unions (Jewish News Syndicate 7/9/24). NOTE: The UAW’s federal monitor twice pressured the union to back off its call for Gaza ceasefire, then launched an investigation (Drop Site 7/11/24)

July 10, 2024: The House Foreign Affairs Committee marked-up & passed a list of measures, including a number related to Palestine (mark-up video Part 1, Part 2):

• HR 8345 (introduced by Baird, R-IN, and having 7 Republican cosponsors, including HFAC chair McCaul, R-TX), “To limit funds to the United Nations and other organizations that provide any status, rights, or privileges beyond observer status to the Palestine Liberation Organization, and for other purposes.” [reminder, from press release: “Current U.S. law prohibits U.S. funding to organizations, such as the UN, which give the PLO full membership or standing as a member state. The NOPE Act updates the existing funding prohibition to organizations that offer the Palestinian Authority or the Palestine Liberation Organization “any status, rights, or privileges beyond observer status.”]. NOTE: based on the recent move by the UN General Assembly, this bill would require the immediate de-funding of the United Nations. Following extensive, shameless grandstanding by committee members in support of Israel and totally disconnected from the events of the past 9 months in Gaza (including members who oppose HR 8345), plus a bit of more moderate commentary by, for example, Castro (D-TX), the bill passed by a mostly party-line vote of 28-18.
• H. Res. 1323 (introduced by Burchett, R-TN, and having 9 cosponsors, including 2 Democrats – Gottheimer, D-NJ, and Moskowitz, D-FL), “Rejecting the United Nations decision to place the Israel Defense Force on a list of child’s rights abusers.” Passed by a voice vote.
  
• HR 7914 (introduced by Sherman, D-CA, and having 23 bipartisan cosponsors), “To require the imposition of sanctions on the Popular Resistance Committees and other associated entities, and for other purposes [aka the “Accountability for Terrorist Perpetrators of October 7th Act”]. Passed by a voice vote.
• HR 8232 (introduced by Mast, R-FL, and having 4 cosponsors, including 1 Democrat – Gottheimer, D-NJ) “To authorize the Secretary of State to withdraw from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East Federal funds previously made available to such organization.” Passed by a party-line vote of 24-22.  Also see: Foreign Affairs Committee Republicans pass measure to claw back UNRWA funding with no support from Democrats (Jewish Insider 7/12/24)
• H. Res. 554 (introduced by Slotkin, D-MI, and having 10 bipartisan cosponsors), “Affirming the nature and importance of the support of the United States for the religious and ethnic minority survivors of genocide in Iraq.” Passed by a voice vote.
• H. Res. 1328 (introduced by James, R-MI, and having 2 Democratic cosponsors), “Recognizing the actions of the Rapid Support Forces and allied militias in the Darfur region of Sudan against non-Arab ethnic communities as acts of genocide.” Passed by a voice vote.
  
• Also see: Al-Monitor 7/11/24 – US lawmakers advance bill to block new UN rights for Palestine -The House Foreign Affairs Committee also voted on legislation to claw back UNRWA funds and denounce a UN decision to list Israel as an abuser of children’s rights.

July 10, 2024: The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe held a hearing entitled, “Putin’s Syrian Puppet: War Crimes and Complicity from Syria to Ukraine.” Witnesses were: M. Night Shyamalan, Film Director, Producer, and Screenwriter & Co-Founder and President of The M. Night Shyamalan Foundation; Mohammed Alaa Ghanem, Syrian Civil Society Leader and Human Rights Activist; and Mouaz Moustafa, Executive Director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force. Also see: video.

July 9, 2024: The House Ways and Means Committee held a mark-up of a number of measures that use claims of antisemitism to target US academia (and reported the out of committee:

• HR 8914, the “University Accountability Act.” Introduced 7/2/24 by Malliotakis (R-NY) and having 12 Republican cosponsors, HR 8914 seeks to impose massive fines on universities over allegations of antisemitism – (press release issued on introduction). Also see: Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) Description of HR 8914; Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute (ANS) to HR 8914; JCT Description of the ANS to HR 8914. ANS was passed by a voice vote; HR 8914 passed (as amended) by a party-line vote of 24-12.
• HR 8913, the “Protecting American Students Act.” Introduced 7/2/24 by Ferguson (R-GA) and having 9 Republican co-sponsors, HR 8913 seeks to revoke tax benefits for US educations institutions over pro-Palestine protest (press release issued on introduction). Also see: JCT Description of HR 8913; ANS to HR 8913; JCT Description of the ANS to HR 8913. ANS was passed by a voice vote; HR 8913 passed (as amended) by a party-line vote of 24-13.
• Also see: Democrats reject bills threatening tax penalties on colleges and universities (Jewish Insider 7/10/24); House Republicans Advance 2 Contested Antisemitism Bills (Insider Higher Ed 7/10/24)

4. Israel/Palestine in 2024 Politics/Elex

AIPAC & Elex

• Portland Mercury 7/10/24: How a Super PAC Upended Portland’s 3rd Congressional District Race — Polling shows candidate Susheela Jayapal had an impressive lead in spring, before AIPAC spent big money to help Maxine Dexter defeat her.
• Arab America 7/10/24: AIPAC and The “Squad”
• City Journal 7/10/24: Lessons from a Squad Member’s Demise — Democrats can learn from Jamaal Bowman’s defeat—and George Latimer’s victory.
• Discourse 7/10/24: A Critical Look at AIPAC’s Political Clout — The pro-Israel interest group shows how outside entities can decisively change the course of policymaking
• TruthDig 7/8/24: With Democratic Friends Like These… The historic spending campaign against Jamaal Bowman highlights the Democrats’ billionaire-funded effort to undermine the party’s fledgling left wing.

Other stuff

• Jewish Insider 7/11/24: RJC endorses challengers to eight endangered House Democrats — The RJC is backing challengers to nearly all Democrats in toss-up districts [“The incumbents hold varying records on Israel and other Jewish issues, although some have broken with others in the Democratic Party on multiple occasions in recent months in support of pro-Israel legislation and issues. In a statement, the RJC described many of its endorsees as strong supporters of Israel, while characterizing their opponents as unreliable on or hostile toward Israel.“]
• Washington Times 7/10/24: Democratic House candidate invests in distillery that hosted pro-Hamas chef
• Democratic Socialists of American 7/10/24: Status of DSA National Endorsement for Rep. Ocasio-Cortez; also see: Jewish Insider 7/11/24: DSA pulls endorsement of AOC over Israel, antisemitism
• Jewish Insider 7/8/24: Rep. Cori Bush draws ire of St. Louis Jewish community [“One St. Louis rabbi: ‘I look at Cori Bush and what she has done as being dangerous to the safety of Jews, both here in the States, as well as the safety of Jews in the Jewish state’”]

5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

• Jewish Insider 7/11/24: Lawmakers express optimism about hostage deal prospects after Israel visits [“Rep. Josh Gottheimer said the mood in the region is ‘the most optimism that I’ve seen’ about a hostage deal”]
• Kustoff (R-TN) 7/8/24: ICYMI: Kustoff Meets with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, Addresses Members of the Knesset, and Visits Sites of Oct. 7th Attack
• Jewish News Syndicate 7/8/24: A congressman from the Bible Belt comes to Israel as a friend [“’We need to show America, Israel and the entire world that the U.S. stands firmly with Israel,’ says Rep. David Kustoff of Tennessee.”]

Netanyahu on the Hill

• The Forward 7/11/24: Netanyahu’s speech: Some members of Congress will boycott. Who else have they snubbed? – As Congress prepares to host Netanyahu, a look back at the past two decades shows that Israel’s leaders are not the only ones that have been boycotted
• Jerusalem Post 7/11/24: When Israel wobbles, Judaism trembles: Netanyahu must use Congress talk to unite Jews – opinion
• The Forward 7/11/24: If members of Congress truly cared about Israel’s well-being, they would boycott Netanyahu’s speech
• LGBTQ Nation 7/11/24: Why we must uninvite Netanyahu from addressing the U.S. Congress
• Jewish Insider 7/9/24: Hostage families to fly on Netanyahu’s plane to attend address to Congress

• Jewish Insider 7/12/24: Memorial for Buenos Aires Jewish center bombing to highlight connection to Oct. 7 terrorism [“Members of Congress, government officials from around the world and Argentina’s president are expected to attend a ceremony marking 30 years since Hezbollah attacked the AMIA Jewish center“]
• Inside Higher Ed 7/12/24: Columbia’s President Denounced Her Before Congress. Firing Could Be Next. [“Law professor Katherine Franke has long been outspoken in her support of Palestinians. Now, after House Republicans and her university president called her out in an antisemitism hearing, she faces potential termination.“]
• Jewish Insider 7/12/24: Washington warned of Iranian influence in Gaza protests. Now what?
• Jewish Insider 7/12/24: How Marco Rubio’s changed foreign policy views are making him more palatable to Trump [“…The main source of contention stems from Rubio’s vote in April against a $95 billion aid bill for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, which passed the Senate by an overwhelming margin.”]
• Ballotpedia 7/11/24: Three candidates challenge incumbent Cori Bush in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District Democratic primary
• Jewish Insider 7/11/24: House Appropriations Committee Republicans approve $10 million cut to Department of Education’s civil rights office [“Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee approved a bill cutting funding for the Office of Civil Rights, which is responsible for investigating antisemitism claims“]
• Times of Israel 7/11/24: Window for Biden to broker Israeli-Saudi deal before election has shut — sources [“With Congress in session for only 4 more weeks before US presidential vote, there’s not enough time left for Senate to ratify agreement, which first requires still-elusive Gaza truce“]
• Mace (R-SC) 7/11/24: Rep. Nancy Mace: Iran’s Influence is Just the Tip of the Iceberg
• Cruz (R-TX) 7/11/24: Democrats Block Arms for Israel, Put Americans in Harm’s Way to Aid Hamas — Cruz’s remarks on the Senate floor here and here.
• The Intercept 7/10/24: Even Centrists Are Questioning Biden. But the Squad Is Divided. — Several Squad members who were vocal critics of Biden’s handling of Israel’s war on Gaza have voiced support for the president.
• State Department 7/10/24: 2024 Report to Congress on Section 5 of the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-441) [as amended] [“Hamas is a brutal terrorist organization that has vowed to annihilate Israel and repeat the October 7, 2023, massacre, during which it murdered almost 1,200 Israelis, took more than 240 people hostage, and committed horrific acts of sexual violence. In response, Israel has engaged in military actions in Gaza with the stated intent of defending itself against future Hamas attacks. By the end of the reporting period, tens of thousands of Palestinians were killed and over a million displaced as a result of Israel’s military actions. Israel has an inherent right to defend itself consistent with international law, in response to the October 7 attack, and the United States has made clear that Israel has a moral obligation and a strategic imperative to protect civilians, investigate allegations of any wrongdoing, and ensure accountability for any abuses or violations of international human rights law and violations of IHL. As President Biden stated in his 2024 State of the Union address, ‘Israel has an added burden because Hamas hides and operates among the civilian population. But Israel also has a fundamental responsibility to protect innocent civilians in Gaza. This war has taken a greater toll on innocent civilians than all previous wars in Gaza combined.’ Secretary Blinken has urged Israel to do everything possible to avoid civilian casualties and has consistently reiterated at the highest levels that Israel’s military operations in Gaza must comply with IHL.“]
• Jewish News Syndicate 7/10/24: Biden report to Congress under Elie Wiesel Act seems to use Hamas stats, blame Israel for war deaths
• Wall Street Journal 7/10/24: Where’s the Report to Congress on Iran’s Nuclear Program? – The White House has missed legal deadlines for more than a year.
• CNY Central 7/9/24: Senator Gillibrand backs Biden, calls for new Israel defense strategy
• McConnell (R-KY) 7/9/24: McConnell Delivers Remarks At The Reagan Institute NATO Summit Event [excerpt: “Slow-walking aid to Ukraine didn’t stave off further Russian escalation. It only guaranteed that this terrible conflict will be longer and bloodier. Conditioning further assistance will weaken Ukraine’s hand and risk emboldening the very tyrant we hope to defeat. By the same token, micromanaging Israel’s defense strategy doesn’t lessen the costs of war for innocent civilians. It just shields the terrorists responsible from justice. Our friends in Israel and Ukraine are fighting existential wars of survival. Their enemies are working together to weaken the American-led order. The security of the free world will either be strengthened by our friends’ victory or weakened by their defeat. They deserve our support. This is Reagan 101.“]
• Mace (R-SC) 7/9/24: Rep. Nancy Mace Speaks About Democracy at the 2024 Free Iran Conference
• Gottheimer (D-NJ) 7/9/24: Gottheimer Questions U.S. Secretary of Treasury Yellen  [“Questions Treasury on rising childcare costs. Follows up on efforts to enforce sanctions against Iran and its state sponsorship of terrorism. Asks Treasury to look into state banking laws posing a conflict of interest with federal anti-money laundering requirements“]
• Insider Higher Ed 7/9/24: The GOP’s Bad Faith Focus on Campus Antisemitism
• Jewish Insider 7/9/24: Mike Johnson channels Ronald Reagan while touting Trump’s foreign policy [“‘He doesn’t treat China like an enemy,’ he said of Biden. ‘He’s stopped supporting Israel and has cozied up to Iran to revive the failed nuclear deal.’…]

1. Bills, Resolutions
2. Letters
3. Hearings
4. Israel/Palestine in 2024 Elex/Politics
5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

Note: Huge thanks to Haydn Welch and Sheridan Cole, advocacy officers at the Middle East Democracy Center, for their great work guest-writing the Round-Up the past two weeks!

New from FMEP:

• New episode of FMEP’s Occupied Thoughts podcast (7/3/24), Witnessing in the West Bank & Gaza Strip with Riham Jafari, ft. FMEP Fellow Rania Batrice speaking with Palestinian communication and advocacy specialist Riham Jafari about Gaza and the West Bank, focusing specifically on the impact of the last nine months on women and girls, on the health system in Gaza, and on the use of starvation as a weapon against the Palestinians in Gaza.
• New episode of FMEP’s Occupied Thoughts podcast (6/25/24), Israel is Annexing the West Bank, ft. FMEP fellow Peter Beinart in conversation with Professor Yael Berda about Israel’s de facto annexation of the West Bank.

1. Bills & Resolutions

Targeting Student Protests/Protesters for Palestinian Rights/Lives

• HR 8913 (pdf): Introduced 7/2/24 by Ferguson (R-GA) and 8 Republican co-sponsors, the “Protecting American Students Act“. Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. Also see press release — “‘The rising antisemitic behavior on college campuses is beyond unacceptable, and many leaders of these movements are international students,’ said Congressman Ferguson. ‘United States educational institutions should not be rewarded with generous tax benefits while condoning this behavior, and the Protecting American Students Act ensures these universities create a safe environment for all students.’”
• HR 8914 (pdf): Introduced 7/2/24 by Malliotakis (R-NY) and 7 Republican cosponsors, the “University Accountability Act.“ Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. Also see press release — “…Under current federal law, a violation of Title VI, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin, can result in the loss of federal funds, but often times results in a mere corrective action that would bring the college or university back into compliance. The University Accountability Act would require colleges and universities that meet the penalty criteria to pay a fine of either five percent of the school’s aggregate administrative compensation as reported on the school’s Form 990, or $100,000, whichever is greater. After three civil rights violations, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) would be required to review the college or university’s tax-exempt status for possible revocation. If enacted, Columbia University, which has been at the epicenter of anti-Israel protests and horrific antisemitic attacks against those of the Jewish faith, would be fined $1.9 million.“[emphasis in the original]. Also see: Stefanik, Malliotakis Introduce Legislation to Impose Penalties on Antisemitic Universities
• HR 8833 (pdf): Introduced 6/28/24 by Banks (R-IN) and 7 Republican cosponsors, “To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of higher education to disclose campus policies relating to responding to certain incidents of civil disturbance, and for other purposes,” aka the “No Tax Dollars for College Encampments Act.” Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Also see: Banks’ press release; Stefanik press release; Stefanik, Banks introduce No Tax Dollars for College Encampments Act (Jewish News Syndicate 7/1/24); Republicans introduce bill attacking Gaza solidarity encampments at US universities (Middle East Eye 7/2/24)
• HR 8902 (pdf): Introduced 6/28/24 by Pfluger (R-TX) and 4 Republican cosponsors, “To make certain individuals ineligible to receive any Federal financial aid under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965,” aka the “Freeze Aid for Student Assaulters (FAFSA) Act of 2024.” Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Also see: Pfluger press release – Pfluger Introduces Legislation to Revoke Visas and Federal Student Aid for Individuals Convicted of Assaulting Police Officers or Rioting
• HR 8903 (pdf): Introduced 6/28/24 by Pfluger (R-TX) and 7 Republican cosponsors, “To direct the Secretary of State to revoke the visa of any alien admitted to the United States under section 101(a)(15)(F) of the Immigration and Nationality Act who has been convicted of assault in a police officer or an offense related to rioting,” aka the “Uproot Rioting International Students Engaged in Radical Subversion Act (UPRISERS) Act.” Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. Pfluger press release – Pfluger Introduces Legislation to Revoke Visas and Federal Student Aid for Individuals Convicted of Assaulting Police Officers or Rioting

2. Letters

7/2/24: Emmer sends letter to new University of Minnesota President asking for plan to protect Jewish students on Campus [letter text]. Also see: University of Minnesota overtaken by ‘radical, pro-Hamas activists,’ House majority whip says (Jewish News Syndicate 7/3/24)

3. Hearings & Markups

July 9, 2024: The House Committee on Education and the Workforce’s Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions will hold a hearing entitled, “Confronting Union Antisemitism: Protecting Workers from Big Labor Abuses.” No witnesses have been announced as of this writing. Also see: press release – Chair Good to Hold Hearing on Divisive, Contentious Union Political Activism

July 10, 2024: The House Foreign Affairs Committee is scheduled to hold a mark-up up a list of measures, including:

• HR 8345 (GOP, co-sponsored by HFAC chair McCaul, R-TX), To limit funds to the United Nations and other organizations that provide any status, rights, or privileges beyond observer status to the Palestine Liberation Organization, and for other purposes. [reminder, from press release: “Current U.S. law prohibits U.S. funding to organizations, such as the UN, which give the PLO full membership or standing as a member state. The NOPE Act updates the existing funding prohibition to organizations that offer the Palestinian Authority or the Palestine Liberation Organization “any status, rights, or privileges beyond observer status.”]
• H. Res. 1323, Rejecting the United Nations decision to place the Israel Defense Force on a list of child’s rights abusers.
• H. Res. 554, Affirming the nature and importance of the support of the United States for the religious and ethnic minority survivors of genocide in Iraq.
• HR 7025, To extend and authorize annual appropriations for the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom through fiscal year 2026.
• H. Res. 1328, Recognizing the actions of the Rapid Support Forces and allied militias in the Darfur region of Sudan against non-Arab ethnic communities as acts of genocide.

July 10, 2024: The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe will hold a hearing entitled, “Putin’s Syrian Puppet: War Crimes and Complicity from Syria to Ukraine.” Scheduled witnesses are: M. Night Shyamalan, Film Director, Producer, and Screenwriter & Co-Founder and President of The M. Night Shyamalan Foundation; Mohammed Alaa Ghanem, Syrian Civil Society Leader and Human Rights Activist; and Mouaz Moustafa, Executive Director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force.

4. Israel/Palestine in 2024 Politics/Elex

Targeting of Candidates/Incumbents Who Care about Palestinians (general)

• New York Post 7/4/24: The Squad demonizes pro-Israel AIPAC with fake ‘dark money’ charge — despite its modest sway
• Jewish Telegraphic Agency 7/3/24: AIPAC spent more than $14M to unseat Bowman
• The Week 7/3/24: Is Jamaal Bowman’s primary defeat the beginning of the end for DC’s Squad?
• The Hill 7/1/24: Progressives unleash fury on AIPAC after Bowman loss
• Arab American Institute/Jim Zogby 7/1/24: A Deep Dive into the Bowman Loss
• Rosa Luxemburg Foundation 7/1/24: Jamaal Bowman’s Defeat: A Blow to the Pro-Palestine Left in the US
• LA Progressive 6/29/24: AIPAC’s Destructive Reach in American Politics — How it made an Example of Rep. Jamal Bowman
• The Atlantic 6/29/24: What Left-Wing Democrats Haven’t Learned From Defeat – Jamaal Bowman and the infantile style in American politics

Cory Bush in the Crosshairs

• Salon.com 7/4/24: “You’re gonna see just millions being poured in”: After Bowman defeat, AIPAC targets Cori Bush
• JTA 7/1/24: Next up Cori Bush: After Jamaal Bowman defeat, pro-Israel donors pivot to Missouri – “We have a short window to act,” AIPAC told donors in a text [“‘On Tuesday night, the pro-Israel community helped ensure anti-Israel Rep. Jamaal Bowman won’t be returning to Congress next year,’ said the fundraising text the American Israel Public Affairs Committee sent Thursday afternoon. ‘With your support, we can also help defeat Rep. Cori Bush, another member of the anti-Israel Squad.‘”]
• Politico 7/2/24: Jeffries, Dem leaders endorse Cori Bush [“It’s a show of force behind the embattled incumbent ahead of a tough primary.“]

• The Forward/JTA 7/3/24: Challenger backed by Republican Jewish Coalition defeats Bob Good, leader of far-right faction [“Involvement in primaries was once a rare occurrence for partisan Jewish groups on both sides, but that has changed as both parties grapple with internal realignments over support for Israel”]
• Jewish Insider 7/2/24: Crowded race shaping up for top GOP spot on House Foreign Affairs Committee [“…Many of the possible contenders are seen as staunchly pro-Israel, with often similar records on the issue, and hold traditional GOP foreign policy positions, eschewing the isolationism that’s been making inroads in the party.“]
• Fox News 7/3/24: Adam Schiff voter flips to GOP opponent Steve Garvey after Israel trip: ‘If you’re Jewish… you’re not happy’
• Sacramento Bee 7/2/24: Garvey’s Senate campaign went to Israel, where he says he converted a Schiff voter
• Jewish Insider 7/2/24: Rep. Jake Auchincloss talks Netanyahu, Bowman, Biden and antisemitism [“The Massachusetts Democrat said he’ll walk out of Netanyahu’s congressional speech if he attacks Biden, and discussed his concerns about the Antisemitism Awareness Act“]
• Daily Wire 7/1/24: Steve Garvey Visits IDF Soldiers Wounded In Hamas War
• Jewish Insider 7/1/24: On ICC sanctions vote, Allred breaks with other Democratic Senate hopefuls [“Reps. Elissa Slotkin, Ruben Gallego and Adam Schiff all voted in favor of ICC sanctions, which Allred opposed“]
• Politico 7/1/24: She’s a Blue-Collar, Bible-Quoting, Israel-Supporting, Pro-Choice, Millennial Latina. Is She the Future of Democratic Progressivism? [“With an eclectic voting record, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez from Washington state has riled the left flank of her party. She thinks that’s a good thing.“]
• NPR 6/29/24: Fetterman traveled to Israel and met with Netanyahu despite blowback on the left

5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

• Kustoff (R-TN) 7/3/24: press release – Congressman Kustoff Delivers Historic Address on U.S. Support for Israel at Knesset
• Jerusalem Post 7/3/24: PM Benjamin Netanyahu meets US Congressman Josh Gottheimer in Israel
• Jewish News Syndicate 7/3/24: Netanyahu stresses ‘joint stand against Iran’ in meet with US lawmakers [“The Israeli premier thanked Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and David Kustoff (R-Tenn.) for their support since Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre.”]
• Gottheimer (D-NY) 7/3/24: In Israel and UAE on House Intelligence Committee Trip, Gottheimer Focuses on American Hostage Release, Fighting Iran, Other Terrorist Proxies in Region [“Meets in UAE with Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for National Security, Director of Signals Intelligence Agency to discuss the Israel-Hamas war, the fight against terror, and long-term solutions in the region”]
• Jewish News Syndicate 7/3/24: Israeli, US politicos inaugurate Parliamentary Friendship Group [“The bipartisan group sends a message to the world that the relationship between the two countries ‘transcends parties and administrations,’ said Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana”]
• Jewish Insider 7/3/24: Knesset, House launch parliamentary friendship group to strengthen U.S.-Israel ties [“‘In your fight to eradicate Hamas, America is with you all the way,’ Rep. David Kustoff says in Knesset”]

• Al Jazeera 7/4/24: Senator Lindsey Graham slams Palestinians as ‘radicalised’ in social post
• Middle East Eye 7/3/24: Aipac-backed US lawmaker [Slotkin] slams Israel’s seizure of occupied West Bank land
• House Committee on Education and the Workforce 7/2/24: Columbia Administrators’ Texts Reveal New Depths of Apathy and Disdain Towards Jewish Students
• Jewish News Syndicate 6/30/24: McCaul: Biden admin ‘effectively withholding seven weapon systems’ from Israel [“The House Foreign Affairs Committee chair said that he signed off on the weapons, and Congress appropriated them.“]
• The Atlantic 6/30/24: How Congress Could Protect Free Speech on Campus -Shielding students from discrimination matters. So does preserving academic freedom.
• CBS News 6/29/24: Neighbors remain on edge after overnight protest outside Rep. Brad Schneider’s home in Highland Park, Illinois

Weekly Legislative Round-Up
June 28, 2024

Brought to you in cooperation with Americans for Peace Now, where the Round-Up was born!

1. Bills & Resolutions
2. Letters
3. Hearings & Markups
4. Israel/Palestine in 2024 Elex/Politics
5. Selected Media & Press releases/statements

This week’s round-up was guest-written by Haydn Welch and Sheridan Cole, advocacy officers at the Middle East Democracy Center, with contributions by Lara Friedman.

1. Bills & Resolutions

(Well-Being of Refugees) H.Res.1314 and S.Res.743: Introduced 6/21/24 by Lieu (D-CA) and 58 cosponsors in the House and Cardin (D-MD) and 22 cosponsors in the Senate, “Reaffirming the importance of the United States promoting the safety, health, and well-being of refugees and displaced persons in the United States and around the world.” H.Res.1314 referred to the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Judiciary Committee; S.Res.743 referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. [The text notes that approximately 75 percent of the population of Gaza have been internally displaced.] Also see: press release – Rep Lieu and Sen Cardin Lead Bicameral Resolution Supporting Refugees Worldwide

(Shielding IDF From Accountability) H.Res.1323: Introduced 6/26/24 by Burchett (R-TN) and cosponsored by Moskowitz (D-FL), Lawler (R-NY), and Gottheimer (D-NJ), “Rejecting the United Nations decision to place the Israel Defense Force on a list of child’s rights abusers.” Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Also see: press release – Rep. Burchett introduces bipartisan resolution defending IDF against UN condemnation

FY25 SFOPs – House
Lara’s full analysis/summary of the Middle East-related details of the FY25 SFOPs bill and the accompanying report is available here.

>>State-of-play: On 6/28, the House of Representatives passed the FY25 Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act in a heavily lopsided vote of 212 – 200, with only one Democrat (Gluesenkamp Perez D-WA), voting in favor.

>>Amendments of Note That Were Adopted

• Amendment from Moskowitz (D-FL) that prohibits funds being made available for the State Department to cite statistics obtained from the Gaza Health Ministry. The amendment passed 269 – 144, with 62 Democrats joining Republicans to adopt the amendment.
  • See also: Tlaib (D-MI) 6/27/24 X-post and floor speech condemning the amendment. [“It’s disgusting that my colleagues would support legislation to prohibit U.S. officials from even citing the Palestinian death toll. They want to erase the Palestinians who are living, and now they are trying to erase the Palestinians who are dead. This is genocide denial.”]
  • The Intercept 6/27/24: 62 Democrats Join 207 Republicans in Vote to Conceal Gaza Death Toll
• Amendment from Connolly (D-VA) that “increases and decreases funding by $5 million to support civil society in Tunisia and express concern for Tunisia’s authoritarian trajectory and an intensified crackdown against political opponents which has dissolved parliament, annulled the existing constitution, and disbanded the independent judicial system.” The amendment was passed en bloc.
• Amendment from Waltz (R-FL) that prohibits funds from SFOPs appropriations bill being used to support the Gaza aid pier. The amendment passed 209 – 200.
• Amendment from Ogles (R-TN) that prohibits the use of funds from being used to administer or enforce National Security Memorandum 20, which “directs the Department of State to seek assurances from partners involved in conflict and receiving U.S. military grant assistance that they would abide by U.S. and international law.” The amendment passed 216 to 197.

FY25 Defense Appropriations – House

>State-of-play: On 6/28, the House of Representatives passed the FY25 Defense appropriations bill in a similarly lopsided vote, 217 – 198, with five Democrats voting in favor.

>Amendments of Note That Were Adopted

Amendments from Ogles (R-TN) that recommends that the U.S. Army and the Defense Security Cooperation Agency “should not participate in the Eurosatory exhibition or any international defense exposition that restricts or threatens to restrict the full participation of Israeli-owned companies.” Both amendments were passed en bloc.

 

2. Letters

• 6/26/24: Rogers (R-AL) Urges Biden Admin to Immediately Cease Failed Gaza Pier Operation [“Three and a half months since the President’s announcement of a maritime corridor for Gaza and at least $230 million wasted, the operation has been riddled with setbacks, sidelined more often than operational, and can only be classified as a gross waste of taxpayer dollars.”]
• 6/26/24: Schiff (D-CA), Goldman (D-NY)  Urge Clarity on Biden Administration’s Omission of Hamas Sexual Violence in Fact Sheet [letter text]
  • On June 27, the Biden administration updated its conflict-related sexual violence fact sheet to include multiple references to Hamas.
  • Also see: Jewish Insider 6/27/24: White House adds 10/7 reference to sexual violence fact sheet after criticism from Jewish Dems; press release 6/27/24: Reps. Schiff, Goldman Applaud Biden Administration for Condemnation of Sexual Violence by Hamas, Continued Support of Israel
• 6/25/24: Tom Cotton (R-TX) Demands Action From DOJ and White House on Synagogue Attack by Pro-Hamas Mob [letter text] [“I call for the administration to conduct a manhunt for every one of these antisemitic, pro-terrorist rioters with the same vigor it used to prosecute non-violent Trump supporters who were at the Capitol on January 6. Failure to act would only further expose this administration’s pro-Hamas bias.”]
  • Also see: New York Times 6/24/24: Biden and Democratic Leaders Condemn Protest Outside L.A. Synagogue as Antisemitic, Associated Press 6/27/24: Feds investigating violence during pro-Palestinian protest outside Los Angeles synagogue, The Guardian 6/26/24: Efforts to sell ‘Anglo neighborhoods in Israel’ at LA synagogue erupt in protests
  • Members of Congress condemned the protest on Twitter/X, including: Padilla (D-CA), Stevens (D-MI), Meng (D-CA), Schumer (D-NY), Khanna (D-CA), Lawler (R-NY), Scalise (R-LA), Blackburn (R-TN), and many more.
• 6/24/24: James Comer (R-KY) Presses American Muslims for Palestine to Produce Requested Information Related to the Funding of Illegal, Pro-Hamas Activities
• 6/21/2024: Burgess Owens (R-UT), Andrew Ogles (R-TN), Jefferson Van Drew (R-NY), Elise Stefanik (R-NY) Urge Northwestern University in Qatar to Sever Ties with Al Jazeera  
• 6/20/24: Steil (R-WI) Calls on Federal Agencies to Ensure U.S.-Nonprofits Are Not Supporting Terrorist Activity [letter text 1] [letter text 2]
• 6/20/24: Cotton (R-TX) Cotton to Mayorkas: Your Job Is to Protect our Borders, Not Interrogate our Allies [letter text] [“Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents are reportedly asking Israelis applying for permanent U.S. resident status detailed questions about their time in the Israeli Defense Forces that go far beyond previous standard inquiries. If true, this Administration is expending a disgraceful amount of time, energy, and resources in a thinly veiled attempt to “prove” IDF members have committed hypothetical war crimes.”]

 

3. Hearings & Markups

6/26/24:The House Committee on Education and the Workforce’s Subcommittee on Workforce Protections held a hearing entitled, “Combating Workplace Antisemitism in Postsecondary Education: Protecting Employees from Discrimination.” Witnesses included Mark Rienzi, President and CEO of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, Professor Brian Keating of the University of California, San Diego, Melissa Emrey-Arras, the Director of Education, Workforce, and Income Security at the U.S. Government Accountability Office, and Professor Dafna Golden of Mt. San Antonio College. [Excerpt from Rep Kiley R-CA)’s opening statement: “College may be out for the summer for the most part, but the rise of antisemitism remains a grave risk to students, faculty, and American higher education…It cannot be tolerated.”] NOTE: Witness Brian Keating, in response to a question from Rep. Stefanik (R-NY), recommended the banning of masks and “full head gear and covering” as a tool to address rising antisemitism on campuses.

4. Israel/Palestine in 2024 Elex/PoliticsNew York

• New York Times 6-25-24: Bowman Falls to Latimer in a Loss for Progressive Democrats [“Mr. Bowman was defeated by George Latimer, the Westchester County executive, in a race that became the year’s ugliest intraparty brawl and the most expensive House primary in history.”] See also: Associated Press, Politico, WSJ, Haaretz, BBC
• Washington Post 6/25/24: Why Jamaal Bowman’s New York primary is huge for pro-Israel groups [“Unseating Bowman would be the strongest sign yet that criticizing Israel is a recipe for heartburn and may at least be a contributing factor in an incumbent’s loss. It would also be a particularly significant victory given that these groups failed to stop Bowman in 2020 — and given that the Democratic base has trended sharply away from Israel in recent months.”]
• The Intercept 6/25/24: Half-Hearted Attempts By Democratic Leaders Couldn’t Save Jamaal Bowman From AIPAC’s Attacks
• New York Times 6-25-24: 5 Takeaways From Jamaal Bowman’s Loss
• Responsible Statecraft 6/26/24: Bowman crushed by GOP-fueled AIPAC cash [“But Latimer’s win also provided the most dramatic proof of concept for a controversial new strategy by AIPAC, the country’s biggest pro-Israel lobby: using its super-PAC, United Democracy Project, to funnel millions of dollars in Republican donor funds into a Democratic primary.”]
  • Delia Ramirez (D-IL) X-post: [“The outcome out of NY should concern everyone who cares about Democracy and dark money in politics. Far right Republican mega donors funded a $15 mil misinformation campaign to unseat a progressive Congressman, in a democratic primary, for daring to fight for peace and justice.”]
• Axios 6/26/24: Democrats groan at AIPAC “overkill” against Jamaal Bowman [“A senior House Democrat said spending at this volume inevitably has a chilling effect on lawmakers, saying of AIPAC: ‘They do that a lot.’”]

Missouri

• Politico 6/27/24: The Squad could lose a second member. It’s not the warning sign you may think. [“Notably, both AIPAC and DMFI passed on spending in Rep. Summer Lee’s (D-Pa.) race, the first member of the Squad to face a primary challenge this year. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) crushed her primary opponent on Tuesday. And most members of the Squad didn’t even draw a challenger, including Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) — though there was a recruitment effort — and Greg Casar (D-Texas). Neither group has indicated that they’re jumping into Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-Minn.) primary, where she faces Don Samuels, a former member of the Minneapolis City Council who came close to unseating her in the midterms.”]
• Axios 6/26/24: All eyes on Cori Bush after fellow “Squad” member’s ouster [“Unlike Bowman, Bush hasn’t been endorsed by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) or his top deputies, Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.). Those endorsements are forthcoming, two House Democratic leadership sources told Axios, with one saying they will happen “eventually.”]
• USA Today 6/26/24: Will Cori Bush be ousted like Bowman? New poll shows her opponent leading by one poin

 

5. Selected Media & Press releases/statements

Netanyahu & The Hill

• New York Times op-ed, authored by David Harel, Tamir Pardo, Talia Sasson, Ehud Barak, Aaron Ciechanover, and David Grossman, 6-26-24: Netanyahu Does Not Speak for Us. Congress Should Disinvite Him [“But Congress has made a terrible mistake. Mr. Netanyahu’s appearance in Washington will not represent the State of Israel and its citizens, and it will reward his scandalous and destructive conduct toward our country.”]
• Roll Call 6/28/24: Progressive staffers call on their bosses to boycott Netanyahu visit [“Ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned speech to Congress in July, House and Senate staffers are circulating a letter calling on Democrats to protest or skip it. ‘This is not an issue of politics, but an issue of morality,’ the letter reads.”]
• Politico 6/22/24: ‘No one knows what he’s going to say’: White House fears mount about Bibi’s DC visit [“The big unknown, the senior official admitted, is if Netanyahu will use the moment to offer any specific criticisms of Biden or his response to Israel’s operations in Gaza. The West Wing is keenly aware of Netanyahu’s precarious domestic political situation, in which he is trying to placate the far-right members of his coalition who want further escalation of the war against Hamas. For the prime minister, being perceived at home as fighting Biden could be helpful.”]
• Associated Press 6/23/24: Democrats wrestle with whether to attend Netanyahu’s address to Congress as many plan to boycott

Congressional Visits to Israel

• Landsman (D-OH) 6-24-24: Landsman Returns from Bipartisan Congressional Visit to Israel [“The major military operations in Gaza are likely coming to an end within weeks, and Hamas’ military and governing capabilities appear to have been effectively destroyed. Ending Hamas’s reign will allow Israel and the Palestinians to move forward in peace. The remaining priority must be to get every hostage home and ensure the surge in humanitarian aid gets to every corner of Gaza.”]
• The Hill 6-26-24: Netanyahu meets with Fetterman: ‘Israel has had no better friend’
  • See also: The New Yorker 6-24-24: John Fetterman’s War; Isaac Herzog 6-25-24: X-post, Netanyahu 6-26-24: X-post [“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with US Senator John Fetterman, and thanked him for his visit and his consistent support of Israel. The PM told the Senator that his standing up to pro-Palestinian demonstrators, while waving an Israeli flag, was courageous and heart-warming.”]

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s Visit to DC

• Washington Post 6-26-24: U.S. war aid of $6.5 billion discussed during ‘productive’ Gallant visit [“In the early weeks of the conflict, emergency shipments to Israel were expedited aboard U.S. military aircraft. In a few instances at the end of last year, the administration also invoked emergency authorities to bypass Congress in order to approve the sale of arms and ammunition to Israel, a move that prompted objections from some Democratic lawmakers about the fast-rising civilian death toll in Gaza as Israel stepped up its bombing campaign and ground operations.”]
• Reuters 6-26-24: Israeli defense chief says progress made on munitions supply in US talks [“‘During the meetings we made significant progress, obstacles were removed and bottlenecks were addressed, in order to advance a variety of issues, and more specifically the topic of force build-up and munition supply that we must bring to the State of Israel,’ Gallant said in a statement.”]
• Yoav Gallant 6-23-24: X-post [“Great discussion with Senator @LindseyGrahamSC about the importance of ongoing U.S. support as we work to bring the hostages home, continue dismantling Hamas capabilities and defend our northern border against Hezbollah. Thank you Senator, for standing with Israel.”]
• Yoav Gallant 6-25-24: X-post [“Thank you Leader @SteveScalise for standing with Israel and for the warm welcome from the Chairmen of the House Committees. Your leadership and friendship is critical to the U.S. – Israel relationship.”]
• House Foreign Affairs Committee Majority 6-25-24: X-post [“CHM @RepMcCaul: ‘I had a productive meeting today with Israeli Defense Minister @yoavgallant. We discussed Iran’s role as the head of the snake, backing terror proxies in the Middle East & I reiterated the importance of strong U.S. deterrence through support for our ally Israel.’”]

Pro-Israel Lobbying

• Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) 6-25-24: Sinema & Arizona AIPAC discuss her strong support for Israel & growing antisemitism against Jewish community
• Yoav Gallant 6-23-24: X-post [“Thank you to @AIPAC leaders Howard Kohr and Arne Christenson for an important discussion at the start of my visit to Washington. Committed to ensuring a strong U.S.- Israel alliance. The United States is the most important ally of Israel – and more central than ever before.”]

Other stuff

• Responsible Statecraft/Blaise Malley 6/27/24: These are the craziest ‘pro-Israel’ votes on the Hill today
• Punchbowl News 6/27/24: Gottheimer [D-NJ] talks bipartisanship, Netanyahu and the presidential debate

1. Bills, Resolutions
2. Letters
3. Hearings
4. Israel/Palestine in 2024 Elex/Politics
5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

This week’s round-up was guest-written by Haydn Welch and Sheridan Cole, advocacy officers at the Middle East Democracy Center, with contributions by Lara Friedman.

1. Bills & Resolutions

(US-JORDAN RELATIONS) S. 4563: Introduced 6/18/24 by Rubio (R-FL) and Rosen (D-NV), “A bill to improve defense cooperation between the United States and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.” Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. Also see: Press release – Rubio, Rosen Introduce Bill Encouraging U.S.-Jordan Security Partnership

FY25 SFOPs – House

>>State-of-play: After the House Appropriations Committee marked up and passed the base text of the FY25 SFOPS appropriations bill on 6/12, the Republican-led House is moving forward with the bill, which includes the submission of a freewheeling array of amendments (many of which are relevant to the MENA region). The deadline to submit amendments to the bill was June 18, 2024 and the House Rules committee is scheduled to meet next week. The full list of amendments can be found here: https://rules.house.gov/bill/118/hr-FY2025-SFOPS 

Lara’s full analysis/summary of the Middle East-related details of the FY25 SFOPS bill and the accompanying report is available here.

>>Amendments of Note:

• Meeks (D-NY) submitted an amendment that would strike a provision included in the House bill, section 7035(c)(5), that would block certain funds to the Department of State until any arms withheld from Israel are delivered, even if it was withheld to comply with U.S. law. 
• Delia Ramirez (D-IL) submitted an amendment that would strike the prohibition on funding to UNRWA.
• Sarah Jacobs (D-CA) submitted two amendments that would strike prohibitions on funding to the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice. 
• A raft of ridiculous, anti-Palestinian amendments were also included, including bans on funding: the administration or enforcement of NSM-20, the citation of statistics from Gaza’s health ministry, a visa to/parole into the U.S. to any individual with a passport issued by the PA, any entity that participates in BDS.
• Dean Phillips (D-MN) and Gerry Connolly (D-VA) both submitted amendments that would support civil society in Tunisia. The Phillips amendment would allocate an additional $10 million to support democracy, civil society, and economic development in Tunisia, while the Connolly amendment would allocate $5 million to support Tunisia’s civil society. 

FY25 Defense Appropriations – House

>>State-of-play: Following the House Appropriations Committee marking up and passing the base text of the FY25 Defense appropriations bill on 6/13, the deadline to submit amendments to the bill was June 20, 2024 and the House Rules committee is scheduled to meet next week. The full list of amendments can be found here: https://rules.house.gov/bill/118/hr-FY2025-Defense 

>>Amendments of Note:

• André Carson (D-IN) submitted an amendment which would strike Sec. 8114, which prohibits funds to UNRWA, and an amendment requiring a report to Congress on the death of Palestinian American journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh. 
• Joe Wilson (R-SC) submitted an amendment that encourages the Department of Defense to “harmonize the defense industrial bases” between the United States and Israel.

Gregory Meeks (D-NY) submitted an amendment that would strike Sec. 8166(a) and (b), which bars funding for withholding, halting, reversing, or canceling the delivery of defense articles or services to Israel.

2. Letters

• 6/20/24: Cotton (R-TX) accuses the Biden administration of withholding weapons and ammunition from Israel, and asks for a list of all weapons and ammunition requested by Israel, and an explanation for any delays. 
• 6/20/24: Durbin (D-IL), Casar (D-TX), Jayapal (D-WA), and Dingell (D-MI) lead 69 colleagues in urging administration to adopt “a Priority-2 (P-2) designation under the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) for certain Palestinians.” [“We urge you to consider opening pathways to Palestinian refugees, particularly those with family members in the United States, to seek relief in the United States.”]
• 6/20/24: Rubio (R-FL) to Biden: Ensure U.S. Taxpayer Dollars Don’t Support Criminal Regimes’ Interests at the United Nations [“It is deeply troubling that the UN has adopted resolutions that not only condemn Israel’s right to defend itself, but reward Hamas by encouraging the recognition of a “Palestinian State.”
• 6/18/24: Fox News: Eight House Republicans, led by Pat Fallon (TX) demand that Secretary Blinken halt humanitarian funding for Gaza until he shares a strategy within thirty days detailing how the funds will be prevented from indirectly funding Hamas.
• 6/18/24: Graham, Cornyn, Tillis, Blackburn, Hawley, Britt, Risch, Collins, and Thune Press DOJ for Position on ICC Action Against Israel [letter text]
• 6/17/24: Chair Foxx Requests Text Messages Sent by Columbia University Administrators [no letter posted]
• 6/17/24: Jewish Insider: Lawmakers urge administration to ‘expeditiously implement’ new Iran sanctions [letter text]

3. Hearings & Markups

6/18/24: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism held a hearing entitled, FY 2025 Budget Request for the Middle East and North Africa (video). Witnesses were Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf (statement) and Deputy Assistant USAID Administrator, Bureau for the Middle East Jeanne Pryor (statement). In the hearing, Leaf acknowledged that the Israeli government had engaged in “insufficient [post-war] planning,” claimed that insufficient humanitarian aid entering Gaza “is not because Israel is trying to impede it,” and conceded that the actions of Bezalel Smotrich are destabilizing to the West Bank. Senator Kaine (D-VA) pressed the administration on its certification via NSM-20 that Israel is not obstructing humanitarian aid, and Senator Van Hollen (D-MD) called on the administration to immediately sanction Smotrich. Also see: Barbara Leaf says that ‘reality’ might force Israel to allow PA to govern Gaza (Jewish Insider 6/19/24) 

6/26/24:The House Committee on Education and the Workforce’s Subcommittee on Workforce Protections will hold a hearing entitled, “Combating Workplace Antisemitism in Postsecondary Education: Protecting Employees from Discrimination.” From the announcement: “As employers, colleges have a legal duty and moral obligation to protect staff and faculty from discrimination and harassment…The Committee’s wide-reaching antisemitism investigation exposed these institutions’ troubling pattern of willful dereliction of their legal duties and failure to address and prevent antisemitic incidents. This hearing will allow Committee members to hold these colleges accountable for their inability to protect their employees from abuse and unlawful discrimination.” No witnesses have been announced.

4. Israel/Palestine in 2024 Politics/Elex

General

• Mondoweiss 6/19/24: Progressive organizations launch Reject AIPAC to counter the pro-Israel lobby [“Michael Arria interviews Justice Democrats spokesperson Usamah Andrabi about the Reject AIPAC coalition, the Israel lobby’s election strategy, and two of the biggest primary fights of the summer.”]
• The Nation 6/17/24 (by Rep. Tlaib, D-MI, and Nina Turner): Black Liberation and Palestinian Liberation Are Interconnected

Maryland

• Jewish Insider 6/18/24: In letter to Maryland rabbis, Hogan vows to stand with Jewish community if elected

Oregon

• Oregon Public Broadcasting 6/20/24: A major pro-Israel group spent big to influence one Oregon congressional race [“New filings show a political action committee affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, donated $1.3 million in May to a group that spent more than $3.2 million waging attacks on one of three central candidates in that race: former Multnomah County Commissioner Susheela Jayapal. The group also poured $1 million into a separate group that lavished more than $2 million in support on Maxine Dexter, the physician and state lawmaker who ultimately won the race.”]

Pennsylvania

• Jewish Insider 6/17/24: Janelle Stelson doubles down on ‘Israel’s right to decimate Hamas however it sees fit’ as she challenges Rep. Scott Perry [“The former TV news anchor is criticizing the Pennsylvania Republican as unreliable on Israel policy and as having ‘a pretty disturbing history of antisemitism’“]

Virginia

• Jewish Telegraphic Agency 6/17/24: In a Virginia primary between hardline candidates, the bottom line for Republican Jews is support for Israel

New York

• Politico 6/21/24: A Trip to Israel Changed Jamaal Bowman’s World View — And Could Cost Him His Reelection [“As coverage of the race focuses on Bowman v. Latimer as a proxy war between the left and the center, between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel power centers in the Democratic Party, between AOC and AIPAC, it’s left out how Bowman’s evolution as a political figure brought us here. His 2021 trip to Israel now serves as a defining moment in his continued evolution — and one that could torpedo his career.”]
• New York Times 6/20/24: AIPAC Unleashes a Record $14.5 Million Bid to Defeat a Critic of Israel [“After helping recruit Mr. Latimer, the Westchester County executive, AIPAC has served as his biggest bundler, steering more than $2.4 million directly into his campaign accounts, some of it from Republican donors. Then, in mid-May, its super PAC began to spend, saturating local television despite New York’s notoriously high advertising prices.”]
  • See also: New York Post 6/19/24: Record $23M spent in NY Democratic primary brawl – most of it to oust ‘Squad’ Rep. Jamaal Bowman; Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) 6/19/24 X-post: “An unspoken secret in Congress is that much of the reflexive, blind, unconditional vote support for nearly any Israeli gov action isn’t from actual agreement…Reps are terrified of AIPAC,” alongside a graphic of NY primary ad spending; 
• Punchbowl News 6/20/24: Why Latimer could be the first successful anti-Squad challenger [‘“Is [Bowman] going to get at least 40% of the vote? Yes. Does he have an obvious ethnic benefit? Yes,’ Latimer said. ‘Will he get the people who are furthest to the left? Yes. But once you get beyond a couple of constituencies that he has strength in, he’s weak everywhere else.”’]
• New York Times 6/18/24: Race and Israel Take Center Stage in Final Bowman-Latimer Debate [“Representative Jamaal Bowman of New York sought to portray his challenger, George Latimer, as a pawn of a major pro-Israel lobby.”]
  • See also: Punchbowl News 6/19/24: Bowman slams AIPAC in final debate with Latimer; Fox News 6/19/24: ‘Outspoken Black man’: ‘Squad’ Rep Bowman points to this reason for pro-Israel lobby’s attacks; Politico 6/18/24: Racism, lying allegations fly in final Latimer-Bowman debate
• Jewish Insider 6/18/24: No more bridges left to burn in Jewish Westchester [“As Rep. Jamaal Bowman fights for his political life, Jewish leaders in the district say he’s left a long trail of betrayal in his wake”]
• City & State New York 6/17/24: Jamaal Bowman has given up on changing minds. Turnout is his only hope. [“The Democratic primary between Bowman and George Latimer could come down to voter turnout in a handful of Westchester County cities.”]
• New York Post 6/16/24: ‘Squad’ member Jamaal Bowman targets fellow Dem Ritchie Torres’ Israel support amid primary fight
• Politico 6/16/14: Jamaal Bowman’s challenger is the Cher of suburban New York [“The New York Democrat running to unseat Rep. Jamaal Bowman has an unusual double advantage against the incumbent: local political clout and the backing of a national pro-Israel group. And it’s Westchester County Executive George Latimer’s ties at home — even more so than his position on the war in Gaza — that could deny the Squad member a third term.“]
• New York Times 6/15/24: Progressive Democrats Scramble to Save One of Their Stars From Defeat [“Representative Jamaal Bowman’s views on Israel made him a top target. But his primary has become a flashpoint in a broader fight within the Democratic Party.”]
• The Nation 6/14/24: Hillary Clinton Just Made the Wrong Choice in One of 2024’s Most Crucial Races [“The 2016 Democratic presidential nominee knows George Latimer is using racist GOP talking points to attack Jamaal Bowman. Yet she has endorsed Latimer. What an embarrassment.”]

5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

Netanyahu & The Hill

• Disagreements continued this week within the Democratic Party over Netanyahu’s upcoming July 24 address to a joint session of Congress, as Jayapal (D-WA) and Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) both called for Netanyahu’s invitation to be revoked. 

• • Who’s planning to boycott Netanyahu’s speech?
    • Ro Khanna (D-CA), Jim Clyburn (D-SC), Bernie Sanders (D-VT)
      • Huffington Post 6/16/24: Rep. Ro Khanna Joins Other Lawmakers In Boycotting Netanyahu’s Speech To Congress [Khanna: “I’m not going to sit in a one-way lecture,” the Democrat said, citing the leader’s role in Israel’s ongoing U.S.-funded military offensive in Gaza.]
    • Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
      • The Hill 6/19/24: Warren to boycott Netanyahu speech to Congress [“Benjamin Netanyahu has created a humanitarian disaster,” Warren said]
    • Hank Johnson (D-GA)
      • The Hill 6/17/24: Pelosi’s split from Jeffries on Netanyahu invite prompts quiet backlash from Democrats
    • Additional members planning to boycott: Greg Casar (D-TX) [“I’m not planning on attending”], Jan Schakoswky (D-IL) [“I don’t want to be there”], Stephen Lynch (D-MA) [“I’m inclined not to attend.”] Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Maxwell Frost (D-FL), Chuy García (D-IL) [“probably not” attending], Don Beyer (D-VA) [“probably not” attending], Jim McGovern (D-MA), Jared Huffman (D-CA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR)

• On Tuesday, Netanyahu released a video in which he said he told Blinken that it was “inconceivable” that the United States had been withholding arms and ammunition to Israel. While the White House did confirm a pause on one shipment of bombs, in response to Netanyahu’s comments, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “We genuinely do not know what he’s talking about.” Congressional reactions varied:

• • McConnell (R-KY) 6/18/24: McConnell: Israel Deserves Ironclad Support, Not Grotesque Micromanagement; also see: Tal Schneider (Israeli journalist) 6/18/24: X-post (Hebrew) – “In perfect coordination, shortly after Netanyahu’s surprising video about Israel not getting the weapons it needs (and the White House’s denial), the Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell stood up and attacked the White House for not supplying the weapons.”
  • Torres (D-NY) 6/18/24: X-post – “If you are looking to undermine the bipartisanship of the US-Israel relationship, then release a public video attacking the Biden Administration, which, despite hysterical opposition from the far left, has held firm in support of Israel for eight months and counting. Disagreements should be had in private. Hamas is emboldened by even the appearance of a ruptured relationship.”
  • Sanders (I-VT) 6/18/24: Sanders Responds to Netanyahu’s Calls for More U.S. Weapons: “No More Bombs for Netanyahu”: “It is absurd that Netanyahu has been invited to address Congress. We should not be honoring people who use the starvation of children as a weapon of war. Instead, the United States should be withholding all offensive military aid to Israel and using our leverage to demand an end to this war, the unfettered flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza, a stop to the killing of Palestinians in the West Bank, and initial steps towards a two-state solution.”
  • Hagerty (R-TN) 6/19/24: X-post: “@WhiteHouse is mad bc @IsraeliPM @netanyahu is telling the truth. Biden Admin has refused to send Congress **formal** notifications to finalize a host of arms sales to Israel—incl F-15s, JDAM smart bomb kits, munitions—even after SFRC & HFAC informally cleared these sales!”
    • This was accompanied by tweets from other members of Congress, including: Deb Fischer, John Barrasso

Members of Congress on AIPAC/AIEF Trips to Israel

• CNN 6/17/24: Bipartisan congressional delegation will travel to Israel ahead of Netanyahu address to Congress
• Jewish News Syndicate 6/17/24: Gallant to Congress members: We’re fighting for Western civilization [excerpt: “Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met on Monday with a bipartisan U.S. congressional delegation visiting the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on a trip organized by AIPAC’s American Israel Education Foundation. The nine-member group consisted of Reps. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), Jake Ellzey (R-Texas), Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa), Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Glenn Ivey (D-Md.), Greg Landsman (D-Ohio), Lucy McBath (D-Ga.), Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) and Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), Gallant’s office said.”]
• Hoyer (D-MD) 6/16/24: Hoyer, Bipartisan House Members to Travel to Israel — “Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05) will serve as the senior Member on a bipartisan Congressional delegation to Israel this week in coordination with the American Israel Education Foundation. The group of nine House Members will hold high-level meetings with top Israeli leaders and receive updates on the state of the Israel-Hamas War, the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and ongoing efforts to secure a temporary ceasefire and the release of the 120 hostages held captive in Gaza by Hamas. ‘My twenty-first visit to Israel comes at a decisive moment for our two nations,’ Congressman Hoyer said. ‘I look forward to strengthening our vital U.S.-Israel relationship even further during my first visit to Israel since the terror and devastation of October 7. Both on this delegation and upon our return, we will continue working to maintain the strong, longstanding bipartisan consensus in Congress to support our ally, Israel.‘” REMINDER: AIEF is closely connected (to say the least) to AIPAC – for details see the run-down of this relationship, with receipts, in the 4/12/24 edition of the Round-Up)
• CNN 6/17/24: Bipartisan congressional delegation will travel to Israel ahead of Netanyahu address to Congress

The Battle Around Antisemitism & Criticism of Israel/Zionism

• Free Beacon 6/18/24: Rabbis Press Dem Leader Schumer To Pass Bills To Combat Anti-Semitism – Rabbis also take issue with Schumer’s comments attacking Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu [background from the archives: Meet the Rabbis Who Believe the Torah Is on Trump’s Side – “The Coalition of Jewish Values emerged in early 2017, giving a voice to the Orthodox right in America for the first time. The group claims to represent over 1,000 rabbis, but liberal skeptics suggest that figure is much closer to six]”
• Jeffries (D-NY) 6/18/24: Leader Jeffries At Nova Music Festival Exhibition: “We Have To Do Everything That We Can To Crush The Shocking Rise Of Antisemitism”
• House Ways & Means Committee 6/18/24: Six Key Moments: Hearing on Antisemitism on College Campuses
• Jewish Insider 6/20/24: Major antisemitism bills appear stalled in Congress with summer, election fast approaching

Pro-Israel Lobbying

• Jewish Insider 6/19/24: CEOs, senators strategize with hostage’s parents on Capitol Hill [“The political and business leaders agreed to principles including supporting Israel’s right to defend itself and continuing the provision of resources Israel needs to do so”]
• Washington Post 6/17/24: Key Democrats approve major arms sale to Israel, including F-15s [“Under pressure from the Biden administration, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) approved the multibillion-dollar sale despite lingering concerns about the death toll in Gaza.”] Also see: New York Times, Reuters, Wall Street Journal
  • The Hill 6/19/24: Senate Dems stew over Biden’s military sale to Israel. [A small group of Senate Democrats is calling on the Biden administration to hold back a military sale to Israel so it could be leveraged to influence the conduct of the war in the Gaza Strip..after a decision this week that allowed the Biden administration to move forward with the sale.] The group included Senators Van Hollen, Schatz, Murphy, and others.
  • Wall Street Journal 6/18/24: Biden Administration Delays Moving Forward With F-15 Sale to Israel [“A month after senior congressional Democrats lifted their hold on the fighters, the State Department hasn’t yet sent the formal notification to lawmakers.”]
• Punchbowl News 6/18/24: Top CEOs meeting with senators on Israel [“A group of high-powered tech, finance and defense industry CEOs — many of whom are GOP megadonors — are scheduled to meet with top senators in the Capitol on Tuesday to advocate for continuing U.S. arms sales to Israel.”]
• Jewish News Syndicate 6/17/24: Even ‘ironclad’ US-Israel alliance ‘can rust, corrode,’ congressman [Auchincloss (D-MA)] warns
• The Hill 6/14/24: Cardin aims for bipartisan fix to shield Israeli leaders from ICC

Other stuff

• Congressional Research Service 6/14/24: Hamas: Background, Current Status, and U.S. Policy
• Mast (R-FL) 6/13/24: Build In America, Not Gaza
• Schneider (D-IL) 6/11/24: Abraham Accords Caucus Forms Bipartisan Gaza Working Group
• Sanders (D-VT) 6/14/24: Statement on Developments in the West Bank
• New York Times/Tom Friedman 6/18/24: American Leaders Should Stop Debasing Themselves on Israel

1. Bills, Resolutions
2. Letters
3. FY25 SFOPS – House
4. FY25 NDAA – House
5. Hearings
6. Israel/Palestine in 2024 Elex/Politics
7. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

 

1. Bills & Resolutions

(NO ONE WILL STOP CONGRESS FROM GIVING ISRAEL ALL THE WEAPONS IT WANTS!!!) S. 4537: Introduced 6/13/24 by Risch (R-ID), “A bill to provide for congressional oversight of proposed changes to arms sales to Israel, and for other purposes.” Referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

(TARGETING ACADEMIA) HR 8648: Introduced 6/7/24 by Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR), the “Civil Rights Protection Act of 2024.“ Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Also see: press release – Chavez-DeRemer Leads Effort to Support Students Facing Discrimination on College and University Campuses [“‘Across the country, colleges and universities have repeatedly failed to protect Jewish students from antisemitic protests and riots. It has exposed a dire need for a comprehensive and commonsense standard for these institutions to follow when addressing discrimination. My Civil Rights Protection Act would break down barriers and ensure students have resources to protect themselves and their peers. Students experiencing discrimination already feel isolated and alone  – they shouldn’t be left in the dark by the institution that’s supposed to be doing everything possible to protect them,’ Chavez-DeRemer said.”] NOTE: this bill is being fast-tracked by House Republicans — introduced 6/7/24, and marked up/passed by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on 6/13/24 (markup video).

(TARGETING PROTESTERS & FUNDERS) H. Res. 1300: Introduced 6/13/24 by Palmer (R-AL) and 15 cosponsors (all Republicans), “Condemning campus protest backers.“ Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. The resolution attacks and denounces protests/protesters opposing Israel’s actions in Gaza in the wake of the October 7th Hamas attacks on Israel; implies a connection between the protests/protesters and both Hamas and Iran; condemns funders of the groups involved (including – predictably – name-checking George Soros; and “calls for a full investigation of all foreign adversaries engaged in promoting and provoking campus and public unrest.”

(DRONES) S. 4515: Introduced 6/11/24 by Romney (R-UT) and Rosen (D-NV), “A bill to combat foreign terrorist acquisition of unmanned aerial systems, and for other purposes,” aka the “Combating Foreign Terrorist Drones Act.”  Referred to the Committee on Armed Services. Also see: press release 6/12/24 — Rosen, Romney Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Keep Drones Out of the Hands of Foreign Terrorists [“...to prevent foreign terrorists—such as Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and Iran-backed groups like the Houthis—from acquiring unmanned aerial systems, or drones, to conduct attacks, collect intelligence, and deliver weapons or supplies. As recently as January 28, 2024, an Iran-backed terrorist group committed a drone attack in Jordan that killed three American soldiers and injured 40 more.“]

2. Letters

• 6/14/24: After Treasury Fails to Provide Iran Sanctions Report, Scott Demands Answers [from Yellen] [letter text]
• 6/14/24: Barrasso to Haaland: No Excuse for Acts of Violence and Vandalism [letter text] [“I am deeply troubled with last weekend’s incidents near the White House involving pro-terror, anti-Israel agitators. These individuals not only vandalized federal property with messages such as ‘Long live Hamas’ and ‘Muslim 4 Hamas,’ but also assaulted U.S. Park Police (USPP) officers and a National Park Service (NPS) ranger. These overt criminal acts, committed on your watch, necessitate your unequivocal condemnation and decisive action to help bring these agitators to justice.”]
• 6/12/24: Budd Leads Colleagues to Demand IRS Investigate Palestine Chronicle’s Links to Terrorism [letter text]. Also see: GOP Senators Press IRS To Revoke Tax-Exempt Status of ‘Palestine Chronicle’ Nonprofit Tied to Hamas Hostage Taker (Washington Free Beacon 6/12/24)
• 6/12/24: Rubio Demands President Biden Suspend Al Jazeera’s Press Credentials [letter text]
• 6/11/24: Comer Continues Probe into UNRWA Funding After Inadequate Response from State Department [letter text]
• 6/10/24: Chairman Smith Demands Revocation of Tax-Exempt Status for U.S.-Based Media Organization Employing Hostage-Taker in Gaza [letter text]. Also see: House Republicans call on White House to revoke non-profit status of Palestine Chronicle (Jewish Insider 6/10/24); Iran’s Ties to the ‘Palestine Chronicle’ – Abdullah Aljamal, who held Israeli hostages, worked as journalist for an organization registered as a U.S. nonprofit. Here’s what we know. (Free Beacon 6/10/24); U.S. Legislators Urge Revocation of Pro-Hamas Website’s Tax-Exempt Status Over Gaza Hostage Scandal (Foundation for Defense of Democracies 6/11/24)

3. FY25 SFOPS (House)

>>State-of-play: On 6/12/24, the House Appropriations Committee marked up and passed (by a vote of 31-26) the base text of the FY25 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill and its accompanying report. Also see: summary (Republicans); summary (Democrats); Fact Sheet (Democrats). That hearing (video here) featured – predictably – lots of grandstanding in support of Israel and point-scoring against Palestinians, including amendments reflecting both (for a summary of Democratic amendments rejected by Republicans, and Republican amendments adopted, see the Committee’s 6/12/24 press release, Committee Approves FY25 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act. Next up: debate/amendments on the House floor (stay tuned).

>>Important Background/Context to Understand this bill: As was the case last year, it is clear that Republicans did not draft this bill with any expectation that it would attract bipartisan support in the House, or that Senate Democrats would permit it to pass into law in its current form.  Rather, this bill is about Republicans scoring populist, political points in the countdown to the November 2024 elections. That said, the fact that this won’t pass into law does not mean people should dismiss or ignore what it contains. Rather, this bill should be understood as a roadmap of what Republicans WILL pass into law if and when they have the power to do so.

>>The Middle East in the House FY25 SFOPS bill: Like the FY2024 bill, but even more so, the FY25 SFOPS bill in an expression of both unwavering, almost cult-like support for Israel and, relatedly, pathological antipathy toward any program, agency, body, government, funding, or office that Israel objects to or that in any way is viewed as critical of Israel or supportive of the Palestinians (and as noted vis-a-vis the FY24 bill, in adopting this approach, Republicans are standing on the shoulders of Democrats who have for years used this exact same framing in their own pro-Israel grandstanding). This approach, if it were to pass into law, would represent the most openly anti-Palestinian, anti-UN, anti-diplomacy, pro-Israeli impunity U.S. foreign policy in history.

My full analysis/summary of the Middle East-related details of the FY25 SFOPS bill and the accompanying report is available here.

Key elements (including new/important additions, edits and changes) are summarized below.

Aid for Israel

• The bill includes $3.3 billion in FMF for Israel (consistent with the MOU) of which $450.3 million can be spent in Israel.
• (CHANGED) The bill includes $6.5 million for refugee resettlement in Israel. This is an increase – since 2019 this funding had leveled off at $5 million (after being much higher at various times in the past, most recently during the period when large numbers of Jewish refugees were coming to Israel from the former Soviet Union).
• (NEW) Section 7035, part (b)(5) would exempt Israel from limits codified under US law on the amounts of defense articles it can obtain from US war reserve stockpiles in FY25.
• (NEW) Section 7035, Part (c)(5) would withhold 50% of funding for key State Department programs and for the office of the Secretary of State, until the Secretary of State certifies that any defense articles/services for Israel that have been previously withheld by the Biden administration have been delivered [irrespective of any US laws that might actually require them to be withheld].
• (NEW) Section 7035, Part (c)(6) requires the Secretary of State to obligate any remaining aid for Israel within 30 days.

Boycotts of Israel/Settlements

• (NEW) BDS REPORT TO CONGRESS: The Report accompanying the bill requires the President to report to Congress “…about the BDS campaign, which shall cover companies, international organizations,countries, and other organizations, including state investment vehicles, that are involved in promoting the movement and specific steps the Department of State has taken or expects to take to discourage or end politically-motivated efforts to boycott, divest from or sanction Israel and Israeli entities.”
• (NEW) BDS vetting: The Report accompanying the bill requires the Secretary of state to “expand vetting policies and practices” in order to impose a blanket boycott on US assistance going “to or through any individual, private entity, government entity, or educational institution that the Secretary knows or has reason to believe advocates, plans, sponsors, engages in, or has engaged in, the BDS movement.” It also directs State and USAID to “strengthen policies and procedures to ensure organizations supported through funding are not participants in the BDS movement.” NOTE: This provision — assuming it is interpreted to include differentiation between Israel and settlements, which is a reasonable assumption given how Congress has treated settlement boycotts/differentiation in the past — would not merely complicate US relationships vis-a-vis aid for/engagement with the Palestinians — it would kneecap the ability of the US to cooperate with European and most international aid organizations worldwide (most of which have a clear policy of differentiating between Israel and settlements, consistent with international law and EU policy)
• (NEW) BDS vetting: The Report requires: “Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall update the report required under this heading in House Report 118–146 on steps taken to expand vetting policies and procedures to ensure that organizations receiving United States assistance do not directly or indirectly participate in or promote the BDS movement.” 

Targeting the Palestinians/PA 

• The bill earmarks NO FUNDING for the Palestinians/PA.
• (CHANGED) The bill would eliminates what had up until now been a perennial waiver included of Section 7041(j), “West Bank and Gaza — language enabling the the Secretary of State to waive an overarching ban on assistance to the PA in the case where the Palestinians gain status at the UN if he “certifies to the Committees on Appropriations that to do so is in the national security interest of the United States, and submits a report to such Committees detailing how the waiver and the continuation of assistance would assist in furthering Middle East peace.”
• (NEW) In this same section, the bill would add another condition for allowing the Palestinians to re-open representation in the U.S.—requiring the President to certify that the Palestinians have not “initiated any further action, whether directly or indirectly, based on an Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice that undermines direct negotiations to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including matters related to final status and Israel’s longstanding security rights and responsibilities.”
• (CHANGED) The bill would alter– to raise the bar significantly– a perennial waiver that would allow for the re-opening a Palestinian representative office in the U.S. Previously, it required that the Palestinians “have taken credible steps to enter into direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel and it is important to the national security interests of the United States and the conduct of diplomacy in advancing Middle East peace.” In this new bill text, the requirements for using the waiver have escalated, demanding that the Palestinians, “have entered into direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel” [a requirement that the Palestinians literally do not have the power to meet unilaterally].
• (NEW) DE-FUNDING US DIPLOMATS WHO DEAL WITH PALESTINIANS — Part (1)(c) of this section states simply: “None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be made available for the Office of Palestinian Affairs, Department of State.” [The Office of Palestinian Affairs is the part of the US Embassy in Jerusalem responsible for dealing with Palestinian-related issues and engaging Palestinians.]
• (NEW) FRAGMENTING PALESTINE: Part 5 of this section, entitled “Directive” states: “Beginning in fiscal year 2025,the Secretary of State shall bifurcate the budget operating unit of ‘West Bank and Gaza’ into separate units.” [Under the Oslo Accords (which the US ostensibly still supports), the West Bank and Gaza Strip are to be treated as a single territorial unit. Efforts to bifurcate them into separate units align closely with longstanding efforts of Greater Israel advocates.]

Targeting the UN, UNRWA, & throwing in the IHRA Definition

• (NEW) Withholding of 15% of US funding to the UN & UN Agencies— Section 7048, Part (a) requires the withholding from obligation of 15% of the US assessed contribution to  to the United Nations, “including the Department of Peacekeeping Operations), international organizations, or any United Nations agency,” until the Secretary of State determines and reports to the appropriate congressional committees that the organization, department, or agency is meeting a laundry list of requirements, including “taking credible steps to combat anti-Israel bias.”
• (NEW) Enforcing the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism—The Report accompanying the bill notes, with respect to that above-mentioned report, that: “In carrying out the requirement of subsection (a), the Secretary of State shall also consider and report on efforts to combat antisemitism, as defined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, as appropriate.”
• (CHANGED) The bill eliminates a waiver, included in past SFOPS bills, giving the Secretary of State the authority to waive – for the sake of  the national interest of the United States – restrictions on funding for UN agencies headed by a country associated with terrorism.
• (NEW) De-funding UNRWA—Part (d) of this section bars any US funding for UNRWA, bars the US from doing anything to “to solicit or otherwise encourage funds for UNRWA from other donors and sources” and requires the State Department to prepare and provide a “transition plan” for “providing assistance in the Middle East without direct or indirect funding to, or support from, UNRWA”
• (NEW) Piling on Against UNRWA — The Report accompanying the bills piles on exuberantly against UNRWA: “…The Committee notes that UNRWA has been compromised by staff who have promoted incitement to violence, antisemitism, and the destruction of the State of Israel. The Committee is concerned by UNRWA’s relationship with Hamas and other terrorist organizations, including credible allegations that several UNRWA staff participated in the October 7, 2023 massacre that killed over 1,200 people, including American citizens, and was the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Further, the Committee is concerned by the use of UNRWA facilities to shield Hamas infrastructure, such as the Hamas data center under UNRWA’s Gaza headquarters. The Committee notes allegations that significant numbers of UNRWA staff celebrated the October 7 massacre on social media and that hundreds of UNRWA staff, including school principals and senior UNRWA management, are also members of terrorist organizations that violently oppress the Palestinian people, including by using them as human shields. The Committee recognizes that the Palestinian people deserve better than to be subjected to UNRWA’s failure to promote peaceful coexistence with the State of Israel.”
• (NEW) De-funding [and for all intents and purposes pulling the US out of] the UN and certain UN agencies: The Report accompanying the bill states: “The Committee recommendation does not include funding for assessed contributions for certain United Nations agencies and other international organizations, including the United Nations regular budget. The Committee also prohibits funds to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). The Committee remains concerned with the continued lack of progress toward meaningful reforms at the United Nations that, at a minimum, should include increased fiscal transparency, meaningful consequences for sexual misconduct by United Nations officials and peacekeepers, protections for whistleblowers, combating antisemitism, and holding member states accountable for undermining international security and investigations into the origins of COVID–19. The Committee strongly condemns the United Nations General Assembly for undermining peace and security between the Israeli and Palestinian people by passing the ‘Status of Palestine in the United Nations’ resolution that provided the ‘State of Palestine’ almost all the rights and privileges as Member States. The Committee notes that the United Nations is not capable of living up to its charter that includes the purpose ‘to maintain international peace and security’. The Committee has concluded that further assessed contributions to the United Nations are not justified and increased scrutiny and oversight must predicate any consideration of a voluntary contribution to the United Nations or any United Nations agency…”
• (NEW) United Nations anti-Israel agenda: The Report states: “The Committee urges the Secretary of State to declare it is the policy of the United States to pursue the principled position to veto one-sided, anti-Israel resolutions at the United Nations Security Council”
• (NEW) United Nations voting practices: The Report states: “In considering bilateral assistance for a foreign government, the Secretary of State shall review, among other factors, the voting practices of such government at the United Nations in relation to United States strategic interests.” [as a reminder, this is basically the policy then-US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley articulated in 2018]
• (NEW) Annual report on anti-Israel bias: “Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees describing instances of anti-Israel bias at the United Nations, including an identification of the agencies and entities where such bias has been demonstrated in the past, including those that appear under this heading in title I of House Report 116–444.”

Targeting the ICC & ICJ

• (NEW) De-funding the International Court of Justice (ICJ)—Part (n) states: “None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act and prior Acts making appropriations for the Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs may be made available for a contribution, grant, or other payment to the International Court of Justice, notwithstanding any other provision of law.”
• (NEW) De-funding the International Criminal Court (ICC)— Part (m) states: “None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act and prior Acts making appropriations for the Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs may be made available for a contribution, grant, or other payment to the International Criminal Court, notwithstanding any other provision of law.”
• (NEW) Regarding the ICJ and ICC, the Report accompanying the bill notes: “The Committee strongly condemns and unequivocally rejects one-sided, politicized, anti-Israel activity at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ) and prohibits funds provided in this and prior acts for such courts. The Committee directs the Secretary of State to prioritize diplomatic efforts to prevent any further efforts to weaponize the ICC and ICJ against Israel.”

Targeting Gaza/Palestinians in Gaza

• (NEW) IG INVESTIGATIONS OF USG PARTNERS IN GAZA ASSISTANCE: Section 7069, Part (h) requires that the Inspectors General of the Department of State and USAID conduct investigations of their agencies implementing partners with respect to assistance in the West Bank and Gaza, or “entities that provide logistical support to implementing partners” [I’m pretty sure this is code for UNRWA] in order to determine if “allegations or reports that such entities have employed staff or contractors that are members of, or affiliated with, a United States designated terrorist organization or have participated in any terrorist act, including before, on, or after October 7, 2023, are credible, and, as appropriate, refer their investigative findings for potential criminal, civil, or administrative enforcement remedies.” [in effect a provision accusing US partner organizations of being in league with Hamas]
• (NEW) [and underscoring that the racist, dehumanizing cruelty really is the point]—NO GAZA REFUGEES IN US: Section 7069, Part (i) states: “None of the funds appropriated by this Act and prior Acts making appropriations for the Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs under the headings ‘Migration and Refugee Assistance’ and ‘United States Emergency Refugee and Migration Fund’ may be used to support the admission and resettlement into the United States of a foreign national from Gaza.”

Random stuff

• (NEW) Targeting US Universities: During the Full Committee mark-up, a provision was added via en bloc amendment by Diaz-Balart (R-FL) barring any funding in the bill being made available to any U.S. university “that has failed to take administrative action against any student, staff member, or student group that commits acts of antisemitism while utilizing the facilities, grounds, or resources of said institution.”
• (NEW) Targeting the Maldives: During the Full Committee mark-up, a provision was added via an amendment offered by Clyde (R-GA), barring funding to the Republic of the Maldives “until the Secretary of State determines that the Republic has revoked its ban on Israeli passport holders.”

Also see: House Appropriations Committee approves 2025 State Department funding bill [“The bill restricts funding to the U.N., UNRWA and other international bodies, as well as boosts funding for the U.S. antisemitism envoy”]  (Jewish Insider 6/14/24)

4. FY25 NDAA (House)

This week the House took up HR 8070 (Report), the “Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY25.” After 2 days of consideration of amendments on the floor, the bill was passed 6/14/24 by a vote of mostly party-line vote of 217-199 vote (6 Democrats votes “yes”, 3 Republicans voted “no”). The base bill (as always) includes far-reaching Israel/Middle East provisions, which were added to by numerous amendments. Notably, Democrats elected to allow almost all amendments (which were brought to the floor in “en bloc” packages”) to pass by voice votes, rather than demanding roll call votes. Action now moves to the Senate – stay tuned.

My full analysis/summary of the Middle East-related details of the FY25 SFOPS bill and the accompanying report is available here.

Also see:

• HASC press release 6/14/24: ROGERS STATEMENT ON HOUSE PASSAGE OF FY25 NDAA
• Rep. Schiff (D-CA) 6/14/24: Rep. Schiff Statement on House GOP’s Poison-Pilled NDAA
• NOTE: many, many members issued press releases or made statements on social media regarding the NDAA. Check member websites and social media accounts to see what any specific member might have said (it’s too much to cover here)
• House Armed Services Committee Fact Sheet, FY25 NDAA Defending Israel
• The Intercept 6/12/24: House Votes to Block U.S. Funding to Rebuild Gaza
• Middle East Eye 6/11/24: US Congress aims to deepen Israel ‘anti-tunnel’ defence capabilities

5. Hearings & Markups

6/11/24: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a classified briefing (CLOSED TS/SCI) entitled, Policy Developments and Dynamics in the Middle East. Briefers were Deputy Assistant to the President and White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk, and Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor for Energy and Investment Amos Hochstein.

6/13/24: The House Committee on Ways and Means held yet another witch-hunt/kangaroo court hearing entitled, Hearing on the Crisis on Campus: Antisemitism, Radical Faculty, and the Failure of University Leadership. The witness line-up showcased a broad spectrum of views all of which are in total agreement with the title of the hearing: Shai Davidai, Professor at Columbia University (testimony); Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee (testimony); Talia Dror, Student at Cornell University (testimony – back again after testifying at this same committee on a similar topic late last year); Ken Marcus, Brandeis Center (testimony); and Jonathan Pidluzny, America First Policy Institute (testimony).  Also see: hearing video; Chairman Smith Opening Statement – Hearing on the Crisis on Campus: Antisemitism, Radical Faculty, and the Failure of University Leadership; AJC press release – AJC CEO Ted Deutch Tells Congress: Antisemitism Cannot Be Normalized on College Campuses; University tax-exempt status under threat after semester of campus antisemitism (Washington Examiner 6/13/24)

6/18/24: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism will hold a hearing entitled, FY 2025 Budget Request for the Middle East and North Africa. Witnesses will be Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf and Deputy Assistant USAID Administrator, Bureau for the Middle East Jeanne Pryor.

6. Israel/Palestine in 2024 Politics/Elex

General analysis/News

• The Hill 6/14/24: Bowman: Hillary Clinton’s support for challenger not a ‘major endorsement’
• Current Affairs 6/13/24: The Politics of The “Squad”
• Mondoweiss 6/12/24: ‘Their message is, The Empire Strikes Back’: Breaking down AIPAC’s role in the 2024 election [“Political consultant Peter Feld unpacks AIPAC’s strategy in the Democratic primaries, Jamaal Bowman’s bad poll numbers, and whether Gaza will impact Biden’s reelection.”]
• Ballotpedia 6/12/24: How the Middle East is playing out in Congressional primaries
• Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting 6/11/24: A Maryland House Race Shows How Not to Cover AIPAC
• Truthout 6/10/24: Report: AIPAC Is Funneling GOP Donor Money Into Democratic Primaries [“‘I want to support the most conservative person who can win,’ one Republican donor said.”]
• Common Dreams 6/10/24: Fresh Calls to ‘Reject AIPAC’ After Analysis of GOP Money in Dem Primaries [“‘George Latimer in New York and Wesley Bell in Missouri are trying to become Democratic members of Congress off millions of dollars of money from rich right-wing Republicans,’ said one group.”]
• The Hill 6/10/24: Thomas Massie tells Tucker Carlson that every Republican congressman ‘has an AIPAC person’
• New York Times 6/10/24: Bowman Makes Amends With Democratic Socialists After Rift Over Israel [“Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York told members of the socialist group that his views on Israel aligned with theirs, and insisted that he never quit the group, despite earlier claims.“]
• Politico 6/9/24: Bipartisanship or Republican meddling? AIPAC is biggest source of GOP donations in Dem primaries [“AIPAC sees support for Israel as bipartisan, and its donors come from both parties. But its practice of sending money from GOP donors into Democratic races has enraged progressives”]
• Times of Israel 6/8/24: Ritchie Torres slams ‘blithering idiots’ behind secret Israeli influence campaign
• The Liberal Patriot/Josh Kraushaar (Editor in Chief of Jewish Insider and a Fox News Radio political analyst) 6/7/24: How the Pro-Israel Community Fights Extremism in Both Parties [“One of the great ironies about the progressive activists’ rhetoric against AIPAC is that it caricatures the group as a handmaiden of right-wing Republicans—even as the group has been mainly engaged on behalf of moderate Democrats and, overall, been a force against extremism on all sides. It’s a sign of the abuse of language—and overall bias in coverage—that a sinister narrative of AIPAC’s deep resources has overwhelmed the reality that they’re the biggest outside force for moderation in politics right now.“]

New York

• Washington Post 6/14/24: Netanyahu’s speech to Congress could cause long-term damage – While Democrats are wary, Republicans see a short-term political win — but at what cost?
• Politico 6/14/24: Playbook: Why Jim Clyburn hasn’t endorsed Jamaal Bowman
• The Nation 6/13/24: Why So Much Depends Upon Jamaal Bowman Beating AIPAC [“The pro-Israel lobbying group is spending millions to oust the New York congressman, but Bowman has ‘people power.‘”]
• Mondoweiss 6/13/24: The Shift: Bowman’s Bad Poll — The Israel lobby is set to make an example of Jamaal Bowman. Even if they’re barely talking about Israel as they do it.
• Gothamist 6/13/24: NY Dem challenging Bowman shares dozens of donors with Republican who sought Santos’ seat
• Associated Press 6/13/24: Israel-Hamas war roils congressional race outside New York City, testing Democrats in pivotal clash
• The New Republic 6/13/24: Ritchie Torres vs. the Left [“Why the New York Democrat chose Israel over his progressive colleagues“]
• The Guardian 6/13/24: Hillary Clinton endorses challenger for Jamaal Bowman’s New York House seat [“Former secretary of state voices supports for Aipac-backed George Latimer in congressional race”]
• Politico 6/12/24: Charges of racism mark final stretch of nasty NY House primary [“Rep. Jamaal Bowman has accused challenger George Latimer of discrimination against Blacks — and more recently, Muslims.“]
• New York Post 6/12/24: Jewish activists get out the vote in bid to topple anti-Israel ‘Squad’ Rep. Jamaal Bowman
• New York Times 6/11/24: No one should be surprised a Black politician is the canary in AIPAC’s coal mine  [“Will Democrats allow their foes to choose their candidates? New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman hopes not“]
• Washington Free Beacon 6/11/24: Jamaal Bowman’s Closing Message: I’m Still a Socialist and Oct. 7 Was Israel’s Fault
• New York Daily News 6/11/24: Bowman accuses Latimer of anti-Arab ‘dog whistle’ in NY-16 primary debate
• New York Post 6/11/24: NY ‘Squad’ Rep. Jamaal Bowman exposed for ‘lies’ about Israel support as he pushes for Democratic Socialists’ backing
• New York Times 6/10/24: Bowman Makes Amends With Democratic Socialists After Rift Over Israel – Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York told members of the socialist group that his views on Israel aligned with theirs, and insisted that he never quit the group, despite earlier claims.
• Daily Beast 6/10/24: Dem Rep Bowman Pledges to Back BDS in Primary Knife Fight
• Jewish News Syndicate 6/10/24: ‘Her strong convictions, not politics,’ RJC says of Rep. Tenney’s support for Israel, Jews [“The New York congresswoman is “a standout ally of Israel in its fight against Hamas and a strong voice against antisemitism,” the Republican Jewish Coalition said.“]
• Free Beacon 6/10/24: Notorious Left-Wing Domestic Terrorist Donated to Rep. Jerry Nadler, ‘Squad’ Members
• City & State NY 6/10/24: The evolution of Ritchie Torres [excerpt – “While progressives like Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar have cast Israel as the oppressor for leveling the Gaza Strip, Torres has taken unabashed swings at anyone criticizing the country’s response. He calls the response, which has left Gaza in ruins, a form of self-defense. For Torres, there is no nuance: Israel is the victim; Hamas is the aggressor. He wants a ceasefire, only with conditions. His positions have made him a polarizing figure these days. He has been called a shill, a mouthpiece and the N-word. He has also received death threats. His battleground is usually social media, where – sandwiched between posts on legislative accomplishments for the district – he lobs merciless missives at critics of Israel. He has reserved his sharpest adjectives for the DSA, calling them ‘despicable, detestable, disgraceful, and disgraced.’ He has also directed his ire at colleges and universities, which he deems to be a breeding ground for antisemitism.’Garbage in, garbage out,’ read one of Torres’ posts condemning a pro-Palestinian supporter at Columbia University. He has made that clear on his personal X account, with half of his posts, retweets or interactions since Oct. 7 being about Israel. His position as one of the nation’s foremost pro-Israel Democrats has earned him six-figure contributions from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel group that has spent significant amounts of money to elect candidates in both parties that support the country. ‘If an organization like AIPAC were to close its operations tomorrow, it would have no bearing on where I stood on the issue because I’ve been pro-Israel long before entering Congress; long before I even heard of an organization like AIPAC,’ Torres said in a nearly 90-minute interview with City & State. ‘I am a committed Zionist to the core. It is a belief that I hold deeply and I’ve held consistently for about a decade.’…“]
• Fox News 6/8/24: Progressive tensions burst out into the open amid Jones-Bowman split
• The Hill 6/8/24: Progressive tensions burst out into the open amid Jones-Bowman split
• City & State New York 6/7/24: George Latimer’s run against Bowman splits grassroots activist groups in Westchester [“Former Latimer supporters are launching a new group called ‘Westchester Progressives’ to show support for Rep. Jamaal Bowman.“]
• Democracy Now 6/6/24: “Propaganda Machine”: NY Congressmember Jamaal Bowman on AIPAC’s $25 Million Campaign to Unseat Him

Virginia

• Jewish Telegraphic Agency 6/10/24: One of the most Jewish elections in the country is in Northern Virginia [“Eileen Filler-Corn was the first Jewish speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates. State lawmaker Dan Helmer is the son of an Israeli father and the descendant of Holocaust survivors… In addition to the invocations of Jewish identity in the race, pro-Israel money has poured into Filler-Corn’s campaign. Her backers cite her leadership in passing into law a popular yet contentious definition of antisemitism, a bill that Helmer opposed. In public appearances, both have been vocal in backing Israel in its war with Hamas.”]

Oklahoma

• Jewish News Syndicate 6/11/24: RJC endorses Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole [“‘Tom Cole played an indispensable role in passing the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act—the bill to provide $14 billion in emergency aid for Israel’s self-defense war in Gaza,’ Norm Coleman and Matt Brooks, national chairman and CEO, respectively, of the RJC said in a statement on Monday. The RJC heads described Cole as a leader in “the difficult fight to compel the Biden administration to deliver the promised aid. When Biden announced his weapons embargo against Israel, Cole spoke out strongly, calling on Biden to ‘stop appeasing terrorists and stand with Israel.’”]

Pennsylvania

• Teen Vogue 6/14/24: John Fetterman: Gaza Protesters Spend “Fridays at Fetterman’s” Office [“The protesters have one goal: to encourage the Senator to call for a ceasefire and back down from his unwavering support of Israel’s offensive in Gaza.“]

7. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

[NOTE: A huge number of members of Congress posted on social media or issues press releases praising the IDF operation that rescued 4 Israeli hostages in Gaza. Very few acknowledged or expressed any concern for the fact that this mission killed nearly 300 Palestinians and injured many hundreds more – indeed, some explicitly blamed every single Palestinian in Gaza for their own deaths/injury, by blaming every single one of them for the taking/holding of the Israeli hostages. If you want to see what individual members said, check out their accounts on X, FB, etc…]

Oct 7/Israel’s War on Gaza

• Jewish Insider 6/14/24: Cardin predicts Israeli operations in Gaza may begin to wind down even without cease-fire deal
• Sanders (I-VT) 6/13/24: Sanders Statement on UN Investigation Concluding Both Hamas and Israel Have Committed War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity
• Jewish Insider 6/11/24: New York politicians condemn pro-Hamas rally at Nova festival exhibit [“Even left-wing lawmakers like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jamaal Bowman and Nydia Velázquez, who’ve been deeply critical of Israel’s operations in Gaza, condemned the demonstration“]

Targeting the ICC

• Responsible Statecraft 6/14/24: GOP trying to drive wedge between Dems with Israel votes  – Excerpt – “Republicans in Congress are threatening to obstruct committee legislative activity if the Senate does not vote on a bill sanctioning the International Criminal Court that passed the House last week. Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho), the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on Tuesday that he would not sign off on any legislation or nominations in the committee until Democrats agreed to take up the legislation, either in the SFRC or through a floor vote. It is the latest in a series of efforts from the GOP to force Israel-related votes in an attempt to drive a wedge between Democrats.”
• Cruz (R-TX) 6/11/24: Sen. Cruz, Colleagues, Applaud House Effort to Sanction ICC After Actions Against Israel

The Battle Around Antisemitism & Criticism of Israel/Zionism

• Haaretz 6/13/24: AIPAC, AOC and the American left’s antisemitism problem
• Slate 6/11/24: Elise Stefanik’s Fight Against Antisemitism Is Quite the Exercise in Chutzpah [“She’s rebranded herself as Congress’ foremost protector of Jews. There’s just one problem.”]
• Chronicle of Higher Education 6/11/24: The Impossible College Presidency [“Leaders face unreasonable demands and intolerable critics.”]
• Jewish Insider 6/11/24: AOC calls for strong response to antisemitism in progressive spaces, but also decries ‘false accusations of antisemitism’
• The Forward 6/10/24: AOC: ‘Antisemitism is an assault on our values’ [“Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive congresswoman, hosted a conversation about the rise in antisemitism with Jewish experts on her social media platforms“]
• Inside Higher Ed 6/10/24: Colleges in Republicans’ Crosshairs Enroll Only a Sliver of U.S. College Students [“…the idea that a whole college campus is antisemitic, or that everybody at a protest is antisemitic like that, you can only make those claims if you have this long, long narrative that says there’s something that’s deeply corrosive that’s going on on college campuses, that there’s something that you should be concerned about that’s going on on college campuses, and that was the narrative that was manufactured long before October…“]
• Insider Higher Education 6/10/24: House Education Committee Threatens to Subpoena Northwestern
• The New York Sun/Middle East Forum 6/8/24: Amid Campus Hate Riots, Lawmakers Moving To Protect College Students From Middle Eastern Indoctrination and Other Foreign Influences

Bibi Speech to Congress

• Axios 6/14/24: Scoop: Democrats plan to go bigger than a boycott for Netanyahu speech [“…Multiple discussions about counter-programming have taken place, primarily among progressives but including other Democratic lawmakers as well, the sources say. The proposals include a press conference, a vigil, or an event with families of those taken hostage by Hamas, many of whom feel Netanyahu hasn’t done enough to free their loved ones. In a sign of how extensive and high-level some of these discussions are, former House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) told Politico he was participating in one counter-programming meeting.“]
• Spectrum News1 6/12/24: Netanyahu’s upcoming speech highlights Democratic divisions over Israel-Hamas war
• The Hill 6/10/24: Momentum grows behind Democratic boycott of Netanyahu speech
• The New Republic 6/10/24: Dissent Is Growing: Boycott Netanyahu Calls Pick Up in Congress [“A growing number of Democrats are pledging to boytcott Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech in Congress”]
• MassLive 6/10/24: Mass. Rep. Clark: Israel’s Netanyahu may be out of a job before speech to Congress
• Fox News 6/10/24: ‘Apologists for terrorism’: House Republicans eviscerate far-left Dems skipping Netanyahu speech
• Times of Israel 6/9/24: ‘I think this is wrong’: Pelosi comes out against Netanyahu’s Congress invite
• The Hill 6/9/24: Clyburn says he won’t attend Netanyahu’s address to Congress
• Jewish News Syndicate 6/9/24: Netanyahu to address US Congress on July 24
• New York Magazine 6/8/24: Why on Earth Is Chuck Schumer Inviting Netanyahu to Address Congress? [“Giving the flailing leader a lifeline isn’t good for the U.S. or Israel.“]
• Panetta (D-CA) 6/7/24: Rep. Panetta’s Statement on the Proposed Pathway to Middle East Peace
• Vermont Biz 6/7/24: Welch urges US to stop supporting Netanyahu’s ‘Scorched Earth Campaign’ [video of Welch’s full remarks on the Senate floor]
  
• WCAX 6/7/24: Sen. Welch calls for US to stop supporting Israel’s military action
• New York Post 6/7/24: Nancy Pelosi blasts ‘very sad’ Netanyahu invite to address Congress: ‘I think this is wrong’
• Fox News 6/7/24: Pelosi says it’s ‘wrong’ to invite Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to speak to Congress: ‘Very sad’

Middle East provisions in the House version of the FY25 NDAA (base text)

HR 8070; Report

(published June 14, 2024)

This week the House took up HR 8070 (Report), the “Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY25.” After 2 days of consideration of amendments on the floor, the bill was passed 6/14/24 by a vote of mostly party-line vote of 217-199 vote (6 Democrats votes “yes”, 3 Republicans voted “no”). The base bill (as always) includes far-reaching Israel/Middle East provisions, which were added to by numerous amendments. Notably, Democrats elected to allow almost all amendments (which were brought to the floor in “en bloc” packages”) to pass by voice votes, rather than demanding roll call votes. Action now moves to the Senate – stay tuned.

From the funding tables at the end of the bill

• Israeli Cooperative Programs: $300 million
• Iron Dome: $110 million
• Arrow 3 Upper Tier Systems: $50 million
• Short Range Ballistic Missiles: $40 million

From the bill text

Section 1211: Extension And Modification Of Authority To Provide Assistance To Counter The Islamic State Of Iraq And Syria.

Section 1212: Extension Of Authority To Provide Assistance To Vetted Syrian Groups And Individuals.

Section 1213: Extension And Modification Of Annual Report On Military Power Of Iran. Includes adding new requirement to include “An assessment of the use of civilians by groups supported by Iran to shield military objectives from attack, including groups such as– (A) Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis; and (B) the Special Groups in Iraq.” Also requires “An assessment of the manner and extent to which the advances or improvements in the capabilities of Iran’s conventional and unconventional forces described in this section have affected Israel’s qualitative military edge during the preceding year.”

Section 1221: Sense of Congress (re Syria) — “It is the sense of Congress that the Department of Defense has executed robust and important defense of Al Tanf Garrison before and after the October 7, 2023, attacks and has an effective strategy for defeating the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).”

Section 1222: Strategy To Protect The Al-Tanf Garrison

Section 1223: Report And Strategy On The Assad Regime’s Relationship With ISIS.

Section 1224: Strategy To Counter The Assad Regime’s Support And Cooperation With Iran-Backed Militias In Syria.

Section 1225: Report And Strategy On Russia’s Support For Foreign Terrorist Organizations In Syria.

Section 1226: Prohibition Of Recognition Of The Assad Regime.

Section 1232: Ensuring Israel’s Defense.

(a) Statement of Policy.–It is the policy of the United States to  work with Israel to ensure adequate stocks of components and munitions to defend Israel against threats from Iran and Iranian military proxies, such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

(b) Report.– 

(1) In general.–The Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall, on a biannual basis, submit to the appropriate committees a report on the extent to which Israel is subject to aerial attacks described in paragraph (2) and that contains the matters described in paragraph (3). 

(2) Aerial attack described.–An aerial attack described in this paragraph is an aerial attack, including a rocket or missile attack, that Israel counters by deploying or utilizing– (A) not less than 50 interceptors under its Iron Dome defense system; (B) its David’s Sling defense system; or (C) its Arrow defense system. 

(3) Matters to be included.–The report required by  paragraph (1) shall include a description of the following: 

(A) An identification of– (i) any components or munitions required for the replenishment of the defense systems described in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (2) deployed or utilized to counter the attack;(ii) any requests made by the Government of Israel to the Government of the United States for any such replenishment;(iii) the funding requirements for any such replenishment;(iv) the Government of the United States’ adjudication of any such requests from the Government of Israel; and(v) the time frame under which the United States can resupply the Israeli Defense Forces with such defense systems and the surge capacity after an incident.

(B) A description of any other funding requirements to support Israeli military operations in defense against Iran or any Iranian military proxies, including Hamas, Hezbollah, or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

(C) A description of– (i) the current levels of stocks of components and munitions that would be used for any such replenishment;(ii) the projected needs, including to address emergent requirements, with estimated costs and sources of such replenishment; and(iii) the number of deployments of the defense system described in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (2) and expenditures of interceptors under the Iron Dome defense system within the reporting period…

Section 1233: Requirement To Conduct Subterranean Warfare Military Exercises.

[excerpt] “Beginning on January 1 of the year that begins after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall require the United States Central Command or other relevant commands, units, or organizations of the United States military services, as the Secretary determines appropriate, to conduct military exercises that–(1) occur not fewer than once in a calendar year; (2) shall include invitations for the armed forces of Israel, provided that the Government of Israel consents to the participation of its forces in such exercises; (3) may include invitations for the armed forces of other allies and partners of the United States to take part in the exercises; (4) seek to enhance the interoperability and effectiveness of the United States military services, the armed forces of Israel, and the armed forces of other allies and partners of the United States in coalition operations; and (5) shall include, if available resources permit, the following activities– (A) practicing or simulating locating subterranean tunnel entrances and exits; (B) practicing infiltrating and mapping subterranean tunnels; (C) practicing maneuvering within subterranean tunnels of varying sizes; and (D) practicing neutralizing or demolishing subterranean tunnels. (b) Sunset.–The requirements in subsection (a) shall terminate on December 31 of the year described in subsection (a).”

Section 1234: United States-Israel Ptsd Collaborative Research.

[excerpt] “(1) Sense of congress.–It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Defense, acting through the Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury Research Program, should seek to explore scientific collaboration between American academic institutions and nonprofit research entities, and Israeli institutions with expertise in researching, diagnosing, and treating post-traumatic stress disorder. (2) Grant program.–The Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of State, shall award grants to eligible entities to carry out collaborative research between the United States and Israel with respect to post-traumatic stress disorders. The Secretary of Defense shall carry out the grant program under this subsection in accordance with the agreement titled ‘Agreement Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Israel on the United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation’, dated September 27, 1972.”

Section 1235: United States And Israel Trauma And Amputee Rehabilitation Education And Training Program With The Medical Corps Of The Israel Defense Forces.

“…The Secretary of Defense shall establish an education and training program to be known as the `United States and Israel Trauma and Amputee Rehabilitation Education and Training Program’ with appropriate personnel of the Medical Corps of the Israel Defense Forces.”

Section 1512: Strategy To Improve The Use Of Air And Missile Defense Partner Sharing Network Capabilities With Allies And Partners In The Middle East.

Excerpt: “…Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a strategy to improve cooperation with respect to air and missile defense efforts between the Department of Defense and allies and partners of the United States located in the Middle East.”

Section 1607: Middle East Integrated Space And Satellite Security Assessment.

Excerpt: “…The Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall conduct an assessment of space and satellite security for the purpose of identifying mechanisms, such as improved multilateral data sharing agreements, that may be implemented to better protect ally and partner countries in the area of responsibility of the United States Central Command from hostile activities conducted by adversaries against space systems of the United States or such countries.”

From the Report accompanying the bill

Support for Block 52 F-16 Fighter Aircraft to the Kingdom of Jordan: “The committee is aware of the importance of the Block 52 F-16 aircraft for the Kingdom of Jordan’s regional security and the advancement of the Middle East Air Defense regional security construct. Amid increased conflict in the Middle East, F-16 Block 52 mission capabilities are critical for the Royal Jordanian Air Force to continue flying alongside coalition forces. Therefore, the committee recognizes the importance of the Jordanian Air Force’s proposal to acquire Block 52 F-16 fighter aircraft.”

U.S.-Israel on Emerging Defense and Anti-Tunneling Technologies: “The committee recognizes the capabilities and solutions that the Irregular Warfare Technical Support Directorate (IWTSD) is providing the U.S. warfighter. IWTSD performs rapid research and development, advanced studies and technical innovation, and provision of support to U.S. military operations. IWTSD’s international program leverages the expertise and resources of partners and allies, on a bilateral basis with limited partners, to develop technologies and capabilities through innovative research and development. The committee commends the results from joint research investments from the international program. IWTSD’s international program has produced technological advances in subterranean capabilities and monitoring, counter-unmanned aerial systems, maritime security, and robotics. Many of these technologies have been applicable to the Israel and Hamas conflict. The committee encourages IWTSD to continue focus on emerging technologies, with strategic partners like Israel, to develop warfare capabilities to meet the challenges of the future, including but not limited to artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, directed energy, and automation. Therefore, the committee authorizes an additional $77.5 million for Combatting Terrorism Technology Support for U.S.-Israel research and development on emerging technologies and anti-tunneling cooperation.”

United States-Israel Anti-Tunnel Cooperation Enhancement: “The committee recognizes the critical importance of the United States and Israel jointly developing anti-tunnel technology to address the complex challenges of locating, mapping, destroying, and maneuvering through attack tunnels. By utilizing this technology since Hamas’ horrific attack on October 7, 2023, the Israeli Defense Forces have discovered over 1,500 new tunnel shafts built under community structures including hospitals, schools, and homes in Gaza including 350 to 450 miles of tunnels. The committee notes that the United States faces subterranean threats on the southern border with Mexico as well as in various operating locations around the world. The committee understands the benefit of this cooperation to enhance the Department of Defense’s ability to confront tunneling challenges posed by criminals, terrorists, and rogue states. To adequately support this effort, the committee provides an additional $30.0 million for United States-Israel Anti-Tunnel Cooperation.“

Bilateral Cooperation on Directed Energy Capabilities for Missile Defense: “The committee is aware that the State of Israel is developing a directed energy solution, known as Iron Beam, to complement the Iron Dome defense system and has requested U.S. support for future production activities. The committee continues to support incorporation of directed energy capabilities for air and missile defense, and encourages the Director of the Missile Defense Agency to explore opportunities to collaborate on the Iron Beam system with Israel, to include potential co-production.“

Iron Dome Production Capacity: “The committee notes that the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2024 contained a significant amount of procurement funding to support the Iron Dome system. The committee is also aware of investments being made to expand U.S. industrial base capacity to expand co-production capacity in the United States, namely at the new Camden, Arkansas, facility. The committee encourages the Department to continue investing in expanding Iron Dome production capacity, to the maximum extent practicable, and to continue to identify opportunities to increase resilience and further expand production in the future.”

Review of Small Purchases from China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea: “The committee notes that the Department, in implementing section 4872 of Title 10, United States Code (84 FR 72239), determined that the restriction on the acquisition of certain metals and magnets from China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea should not apply to acquisitions below the Simplified Acquisition Threshold, using the authority of section 1905 of Title 41. The committee is concerned that this exception may cause certain agencies of the Department of Defense, to include the Defense Logistics Agency, to source aluminum-nickel-cobalt magnets and other permanent magnets from distributors of Chinese-made materials using this exception. The committee is concerned that such acquisitions may undermine the defense industrial base. The committee therefore directs the Secretary of Defense to provide a briefing to the House Committee on Armed Services not later than December 31, 2024, on the use of this exception to purchase aluminum-nickel-cobalt magnets and other permanent magnets from otherwise noncompliant foreign sources…”

Briefing on the Iranian Security Assistance in the Western Hemisphere: “The committee is aware of the required report on ‘Iranian military assistance to Bolivia, Brazil, and Venezuela’ described in Title XVIII of the Joint Explanatory Statement accompanying the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 Conference Report. The required report has not yet been delivered to the House Committee on Armed Services. The committee expects delivery of the report as soon as practicable. The committee directs the Secretary of Defense to submit an addendum to the report on ‘Iranian military assistance to Bolivia, Brazil, and Venezuela’ regarding Iranian military assistance to Cuba and Nicaragua to the House Committee on Armed Services not later than December 1, 2024. The addendum should address all required information in the report on ‘Iranian military assistance to Bolivia, Brazil, and Venezuela’ as it relates to Cuba and Nicaragua.”

Captagon Financing: “The committee is concerned with the utilization of the global trade in Captagon by the government of Syria and Iranian-supported terrorist groups to obtain financial resources to support the acquisition of destabilizing types and amounts of conventional weapons and other armaments. The committee directs the Secretary of Defense to submit a  report to the House Committee on Armed Services not later than December 1, 2024, on the Department’s efforts to work with other Federal departments and agencies to counter the Captagon trade in the Middle East, including: (1) a description of interagency or international efforts to counter the Captagon trade in the Middle East that include the Department of Defense and which include money laundering and financial networks associated with the Captagon trade in the Middle East; (2) how the Department of Defense collaborates with other U.S. departments and agencies and international law enforcement organizations to counter the money laundering operations employed by traffickers; and (3) any other matter the Secretary deems relevant.“

Hardening U.S. Bases and Naval Assets in the Middle East: “The Committee views United States military bases in the Middle East as vital for maintaining stability, conducting counterterrorism operations, and supporting partners in the region. These bases continue to face security challenges, including attacks by Iranian-sponsored militias and terrorist organizations and other hostile actors. Therefore, the committee directs the Secretary of Defense to provide a briefing to the House Committee on Armed Services not later than December 1, 2024 on efforts to strengthen the force protection of U.S. bases and naval assets in the Middle East, the briefing should include efforts made to provide physical reinforcements, provide advanced surveillance technologies, strengthening access control points, and reinforcing critical infrastructure and facilities against potential attacks.“

Importance of Continued Defense Cooperation with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan: “The Committee recognizes that the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has been a long-standing ally of the United States. Jordan has been a long-standing critical partner of the United States providing stability within the Middle East and deterring adversaries within the region. The Committee commends Jordan for defense of its air space on the night of April 13, 2024. The Committee also recognizes the need for additional counter unmanned aerial systems within the CENTCOM region due to the growing threat from Iran and its regional proxies. Therefore, the Committee directs the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Commander of U.S. Central Command and the Director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, to brief the House Armed Services Committee on any current and future plans to utilize existing authorities, including Section 333 under Title 10, to increase air defense for counter unmanned aerial systems in Jordan to protect United States and partner interests. This briefing shall occur no later than December 1, 2024.”

Iran-Backed Proxies in Iraqi Security Sector: “The committee remains concerned that elements of Iraqi state security under the umbrella of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces, incorporates some Iran-backed Foreign Terrorist Organizations like Kataib Hezbollah and Asa’ib Ahl alHaq, among other Iran-backed proxies. Therefore, the committee directs the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Secretary of State, to submit a report to the House Committee on Armed Services and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs not later than March 1, 2025, describing the extent of Iran’s influence on Iraq’s security forces, including elements of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces, and the United States Government’s engagement with the Government of Iraq to bolster the sovereignty of Iraq while limiting malign outside influence.”

Iranian Hardening of Nuclear Facilities: “The committee directs the Secretary of Defense to provide a briefing to the House Committee on Armed Services by October 1, 2024, on Iran’s progress with respect to its nuclear program. The brief should include the following information:    (1) The status of Iranian efforts to harden their nuclear facilities, particularly the new facilities in Natanz;  (2) Kinetic and non-kinetic actions that could be taken against these sites by the United States, and our allies and partners in the region if deemed necessary; and (3) The status of any potential nuclear cooperation between Iran and Russia.”

Left-of-Launch Missile Defeat Capabilities: “The committee notes the Department’s ongoing investment in a spectrum of missile defense and defeat capabilities, including the development and integration of pre-launch, or left-of-launch, operations. The committee believes these activities play an important role as part of a comprehensive approach to addressing evolving missile threats and may have particular relevance to operations in the area of responsibility for U.S. Central Command. Accordingly, the committee directs the Secretary of Defense to provide a briefing to the House Committee on Armed Services, no later than January 1, 2025, that assess the development of pre-launch missile defeat capabilities, including cyber or electronic warfare tools, related to missile threats posed by Iran and Iranian-linked groups.“

Report on Air and Missile Defense Munitions Expended: “The committee is aware that since October 7, 2023, United States forces in the Middle East have been employing air and missile defense capabilities to engage attacks from regional proxy groups supported by Iran, to defend U.S. forces in the region and ensure freedom of navigation. The committee is concerned about the potential impact these efforts may have to global inventory of these high-demand munitions. Therefore, the committee directs the Secretary of Defense, to submit to the House Committee on Armed Services a briefing not later than December 2, 2024, on the following: (1) the total number of air and missile defense munitions by type expended by each military service in the United States Central Command area of responsibility from October 7, 2023, to September 30, 2024; (2) the individual unit cost by type of air and missile defense munition and total cost for each type of munition expended by service during this timeframe; and (3) the assessed effectiveness of each type of munition employed against each threat system to include the number of munitions that did not successfully engage their intended target during this timeframe.”

Report on Iranian Aligned Popular Mobilization Forces: “The committee directs the Secretary of Defense, to provide a briefing to the House Committee on Armed Services not later than December 1, 2024, on the following: (1) determination if U.S assistance has been provided to or to the benefit of Iranian aligned Popular Mobilization Forces for training and professional military education, including through assistance provided to the Iraqi Ministry of Defense; and (2) whether such assistance has gone to the benefit of any person who is a member of a foreign terrorist organization designated by the U.S. Department of State, or any specially designated national designated by the U.S. Department of Treasury.“

Russian, Chinese, North Korean, and Iranian Defense Cooperation: “The committee notes the challenges to U.S. interests and security posed by cooperation between Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. The committee directs the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, to provide a briefing to the House Committee on Armed Services not later than December 1, 2024, on the state of defense cooperation between Russia, China, Iran and North Korea…”

Active protection for the Abrams Main Battle Tank: “The Committee is concerned about the vulnerability of US Army ground combat vehicles to rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), and other threats. Fighting in Ukraine and Gaza have further shown the proliferation of RPGs, ATGMs, and other threats to ground vehicles. Over the past few years, the Committee supported the fielding of active protection on four brigades of the US Army Abrams Main Battle Tanks and continued efforts in testing and fielding the system selected for the Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle and Stryker. The Committee, however, is concerned that the Army has yet to develop a plan to field APS to additional BCTs of Abrams Main Battle Tank. Therefore, the Committee encourages the Army to develop a plan to procure additional APS kits for additional Abrams Main Battle Tanks and to develop a training plan for the APS system it has fielded. The Committee further directs the Secretary of the Army to provide a briefing to the House Committee on Armed Services by February 1, 2025, on their plan, including a schedule, to field APS to the rest of its Abrams fleet.”

Amendments (tracker)

 

Number	Lead sponsor	Topic	Summary	En Bloc	Result
0761	Schneider (D-IL)	Israel	(REVISED) Instructs the Secretary of Defense to provide a briefing to HFAC/HASC/HPSCI about US efforts to support Israel’s efforts to rescue the hostages in Gaza. Revision removes sense of Congress and authorizations, and adds findings and a briefing requirement.	EB 1	Passed by VV
0589	Fry (R-SC)	Israel	Declares that Israel is the United States’ greatest ally in the Middle East and demands the release of all hostages held by Hamas	EB 1	Passed by VV
1155	Buchanan (R-FL)	Israel	(LATE) Sense of Congress supporting the mission of the Department of Defense in helping Israel fend of attacks from Hamas by supporting the Iron Dome system	EB 1	Passed by VV
0964	Gosar (R-AZ)	Jordan	(REVISED) Requires the expeditious disclosure of all records relating to the January 28, 2024 attack on Tower 22 in Jordan.	EB 1	Passed by VV
0356	Mace (R-SC)	F*ck Gaza	(REVISED) Prohibits funds authorized or otherwise made available for the Department of Defense in FY25 from being used to build, maintain, or repair a pier off the coast of Gaza, or to transport aid to such a pier.	EB 1	Passed by VV
1257	Davidson (R-OH)	F*ck Gaza	(LATE) (REVISED) Prohibits funding for the acquisition, construction, installation, maintenance, or restoration of a temporary or permanent pier, port, or similar structure off the coast of Gaza, including for the deployment of any equipment or members of the Armed Forces to Gaza relating to such structure.	EB 1	Passed by VV
0072	Pfluger (R-TX)	Iran	(REVISED) Requires the administration to provide information on how proceeds from illicit Iranian oil exports are funding the IRGC and Iranian-backed terrorist proxies.	EB 1	Passed by VV
0240	Panetta (D-CA)	Middle East	(REVISED) Creates a foreign military officer subject matter expert exchange program with key Middle East partners in areas such as artificial intelligence, military doctrine and spending, cyber resiliency, counterterrorism, and more.	EB 1	Passed by VV
0282	Gottheimer (D-NJ)	Israel	(REVISED) Expresses support for joint U.S.-Israel cooperation in the space arena between NASA and the Israel Space Agency, including joint U.S. Air Force and the Israeli Air Force’s newly created Space Force in areas of research, development, test, and evaluation.	EB 1	Passed by VV
0287	Gottheimer (D-NJ)	Iran	(REVISED) Requires the Secretary of Defense to include in their annual report on Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China information on the PRC’s burgeoning relationship with the Islamic Republic of Iran.	EB 1	Passed by VV
0907	Mast (R-FL)	F*ck Gaza	(REVISED) Prohibits U.S. funds from building or rebuilding in the Gaza Strip.	Debated	Passed by voice vote
0920	Ogles (R-TN)	Israel	(REVISED) Expresses the sense of Congress that the Department of Defense and its agencies should not participate in the Eurosatory defense exhibition if Israeli firms are not allowed to participate or if restrictions or the threat of restriction of any party’s participation in the event is used as a means of deterring Israel from defending itself.	Debated	Passed by voice vote
1214	Mast (R-FL) on behalf of Arrington (R-TX)	F*ck Gaza & F*ck Palestinians	(LATE) Prohibits DOD funds from being used for the operation of aircraft to transport Palestinian refugees to the U.S.	Debate	Passed by vote of 204-199
0758	Boebert (R-CO)	Boycott boycotters of Israel or settlements	Prohibits DoD from contracting with entities that are engaged in a boycott of the state of Israel.	EB2	Passed by VV
0078	Curtis (R-UT)	Boycott boycotters of Israel or settlements	(REVISED) Prohibits the Secretary of Defense from knowingly permitting the sale, at a commissary store or military exchange, of any good, ware, article, or merchandise from any company that has engaged in or engages in a boycott of the State of Israel.	EB2	Passed by VV
0436	Biggs (R-AZ)	Israel	Expresses a sense of Congress about the importance of the U.S.-Israel relationship and the need to continue offering security assistance and related support.	EB2	Passed by VV
0311	Bilirakis (R-FL)	Eastern Med	(REVISED) Requires a report on multilateral exercises in the Eastern Mediterranean.	EB2	Passed by VV
0314	Gottheimer (D-FL)	Israel / Egypt	(REVISED) Authorizes a Report Authored by the Secretary of Defense to study steps Israel, the US, and Egypt can take to enhance international security measures on the Gaza-Egypt border to ensure Hamas and other actors cannot use tunnels or methods via the Mediterranean Sea to smuggle weapons and illicit goods. Additionally, report will outline/ map existing tunnel networks.	EB2	Passed by VV
0338	Roy (R-TX)	Iran	States that none of the funds authorized to the Department of Defense or otherwise made available by this Act may be made available directly or indirectly to the Government of Iran.	EB2	Passed by VV
0486	Curtis (R-UT)	Iran	(REVISED) Modifies and updates a report regarding Iranian involvement in the narcotics trade.	EB2	Passed by VV
0694	Moskowitz (D-FL)	F*ck Gaza	(REVISED) Requires an assessment of the accuracy of Gaza Ministry of Health Casualty Reporting.	EB3	Passed by VV
0769	Schneider (D-IL)	Iran	(REVISED) Requires a DOD briefing on Iranian support for nonstate actors in North Africa. Revision changes ‘stop Iran’ to ‘deter Iran’.	EB3	Passed by VV
0778	Schneider (D-IL)	Hamas	(REVISED) Instructs Secretary of Defense and Director of DIA to advocate on the Foreign Threat Intelligence Committee for $25,000,000 incentives for information regarding top Hamas terrorists. Amendment unchanged– description revised.	EB3	Passed by VV
0794	Schneider (D-IL)	Morocco	(REVISED) Recognizes the African Lion exercise hosted by Morocco and requires a report to Congress. Revision adds HFAC/SFRC as report recipients.	EB3	Passed by VV
0888	Wilson (R-SC)	Iran	(REVISED) Prohibits DOD from providing funds to Badr Organization	EB4	Passed by VV
0894	Jackson (R-TX)	Israel	(REVISED) Authorizes cooperation between the United States and Israel on emerging technology capabilities.	EB4	Passed by VV
0908	Wilson (R-SC)	Israel	(REVISED) Requires a report regarding the assessment of Israel integration into the National Technology Industrial Base.	EB4	Passed by VV
0992	Ivey (D-MD)	Iran	(REVISED) Directs the GAO to study, and issue a report on, the potential threats to US interests posed by Iran, China, Russia, and other adversarial States through the antagonistic use of extraterrestrial satellites for combat, incapacitation of other satellites, cybersecurity intrusions, debilitation of critical infrastructure, and other aggressive purposes.	EB4	Passed by VV
1038	Nunn (R-IA)	Israel	Directs the Secretary of Defense to establish a strategic partnership between the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and the Israeli Ministry of Defense.	EB4	Passed by VV
1057	Banks (R-IN	Iran	(REVISED) Requires a report on Iran’s installation of advanced centrifuges since 2021 and on Iran’s plans to install centrifuges at new facilities.	EB4	Passed by VV
1276	Edwards (R-NC)	Other	(LATE) Revokes the security clearances to retired or active members of the Armed Forces or Department of Defense personnel that express support for a terrorist organization or engaged in a demonstration supporting a terrorist organization.	EB5	Passed by VV
0285	Gottheimer (D-NJ)	Iran	(REVISED) Requires the Secretary of Defense to report on the status of U.S.-Israel cooperation on efforts to counter threats by Iran in the form of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), including loitering munitions, otherwise known as “suicide” and “kamikaze” drones.	EB5	Passed by VV

 

FY25 SFOPS – House

(published June 14, 2024)

State-of-play: On 6/12/24, the House Appropriations Committee marked up and passed (by a vote of 31-26) the base text of the FY25 State and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill and its accompanying report. Also see: summary (Republicans); summary (Democrats); Fact Sheet (Democrats). That hearing (video here) featured – predictably – lots of grandstanding in support of Israel and point-scoring against Palestinians, including amendments reflecting both (for a summary of Democratic amendments rejected by Republicans, and Republican amendments adopted, see the Committee’s 6/12/24 press release, Committee Approves FY25 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act. Next up: debate/amendments on the House floor (stay tuned).

Important Background/Context to Understand this bill: As was the case last year, it is clear that Republicans did not draft this bill with any expectation that it would attract bipartisan support in the House, or that Senate Democrats would permit it to pass into law in its current form.  Rather, this bill is about Republicans scoring populist, political points in the countdown to the November 2024 elections. That said, the fact that this won’t pass into law does not mean people should dismiss or ignore what it contains. Rather, this bill should be understood as a roadmap of what Republicans WILL pass into law if and when they have the power to do so.

The Middle East in the House FY25 SFOPS bill: Like the FY2024 bill, but even more so, the FY25 SFOPS bill in an expression of both unwavering, almost cult-like support for Israel and, relatedly, pathological antipathy toward any program, agency, body, government, funding, or office that Israel objects to or that in any way is viewed as critical of Israel or supportive of the Palestinians (and as noted vis-a-vis the FY24 bill, in adopting this approach, Republicans are standing on the shoulders of Democrats who have for years used this exact same framing in their own pro-Israel grandstanding). This approach, if it were to pass into law, would represent the most openly anti-Palestinian, anti-UN, anti-diplomacy, pro-Israeli impunity U.S. foreign policy in history. Full details are below.

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TITLE I — DEPARTMENT OF STATE AND RELATED AGENCY

United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) [formerly Broadcasting Board of Governors], international broadcasting operations: Perennial bill language providing $798,196,000, “as authorized, to carry out international communication activities, and to make and supervise grants for radio, Internet, and television broadcasting to the Middle East”.

Center for Middle Eastern-Western Dialogue Trust Fund: Perennial bill provision stating: “For necessary expenses of the Center for Middle Eastern-Western Dialogue Trust Fund, as authorized by section 633 of the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2004 (22 U.S.C. 2078), the total amount of the interest and earnings accruing to such Fund on or before September 30, 2025, to remain available until expended.”

Israeli Arab Scholarship Program: Perennial bill provision stating: “For necessary expenses of the Israeli Arab Scholarship Program, as authorized by section 214 of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993 (22 U.S.C. 2452 note), all interest and earnings accruing to the Israeli Arab Scholarship Fund on or before September 30, 2025, to remain available until expended.” 

TITLE III — BILATERAL ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE

Development Assistance (DA): In the Report accompanying the bill, the table laying out Development Assistance (DA) allocations includes $10 million for Morocco.

Economic Support Fund (ESF): See Section 7041 (below) for details of ESF for the Middle East in the bill text. The Report accompanying the bill includes a table laying out Economic Support Fund (ESF) allocations includes for the Middle East and North Africa as follows:

• Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI): $30 million
• Middle East Regional Cooperation (MERC): $10 million
• Morocco: $10 million
• Near East Regional Democracy: $58 million, of which $5 million is for NED
• Nita M. Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Act: $50 million
• USAID-Israel Development Cooperation: $4 million

The Report accompanying the bill adds:

• Middle East Regional Cooperation (MERC): ”The Committee directs $10,000,000 be made available for the MERC program to facilitate scientific research collaboration in the Middle East, including between Arabs and Israelis.”
• USAID-Israel international development cooperation: “The Committee directs $4,000,000 to support cooperative projects to address sustainability challenges relating to water resources, agriculture, and energy storage consistent with section 1278 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116–283).”

Migration & Refugee Assistance (MRA): The bill stipulates that, “not less than $6,500,000 shall be made available for refugees resettling in Israel.” NOTE: The current earmark for MRA for Israel dates back to the 1990s and the influx of Jews to Israel from the former Soviet Union. As those refugee numbers decreased, the earmark has diminished, leveling off at $5 million a year since 2019 [which given the numbers of actual refugees Israel is absorbing these days is actually a huge amount per capita]. But with this bill, the House GOP has apparently decided to reverse that trend, increasing the earmark by (at least) a whopping 13% (under this provision $6.5 million would be the floor, not the ceiling, for funding available to Israel in the category). For more on the history of MRA for Israel, see this report from the Congressional Research Service. The report accompanying the bill states simply that “The Committee provides not less than $6,500,000 for refugees from the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and other refugees resettling in Israel” – without explaining why the increase.

TITLE IV – INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ASSISTANCE

Non-proliferation, Anti-terrorism, Demining and Related Programs (NADR): This section of the bill includes a perennial stipulation that “…funds appropriated under this heading may be made available for the IAEA unless the Secretary of State determines that Israel is being denied its right to participate in the activities of that Agency.” 

Peacekeeping Operations (PKO): The bill earmarks not less than $30 million “…for a United States contribution to the Multinational Force and Observers mission in the Sinai.”

Foreign Military Financing (FMF): Most FMF for the Middle East is covered in Sec. 7041 (see below). In addition, the report accompanying the bill lays out FMF for the Middle East as follows:

• Bahrain – $4 million
• Egypt – $1.375 billion
• Israel – $3.3 billion
• Jordan – $475 million
• Morocco – $10 milion

TITLE VII – GENERAL PROVISIONS

Section 7004: Diplomatic Facilities — Part (e) of this section stipulates that, “None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used to move the United States embassy in Israel to a location other than Jerusalem.”

Section 7007: Prohibition against direct funding for certain countries — This is a perennial provision banning aid to Cuba, North Korea, Iran, and Syria, extending to loans, credits, insurance, and guarantees of the Export-Import Bank or its agents. 

Section 7008: Coups d’état — This is a perennial provision stating that no US funding “shall be obligated or expended to finance directly any assistance to the government of any country whose duly elected head of government is deposed by military coup d’état or decree or, after the date of enactment of this Act, a coup d’état or decree in which the military plays a decisive role.” It also states that “assistance may be resumed to such government if the Secretary of State certifies and reports to the appropriate congressional committees that subsequent to the termination of assistance a democratically elected government has taken office” and that the prohibition in this section “shall not apply to assistance to promote democratic elections or public participation in democratic processes, or to support a democratic transition.” It also includes a waiver. Reminder: this is the provision that caused problems for the Obama Administration in the context of Egypt. 

Section 7013: Prohibition on taxation of assistance — This is a perennial provision barring taxation of U.S. assistance and imposing huge financial penalties on governments that do so. While this provision appears generic, the only recipient explicitly identified is the West Bank and Gaza. This singling out of the Palestinians reflects the genesis of the provision: long-ago allegations that the Palestinian Authority (PA) was taxing U.S. assistance provided to NGOs (recall that under existing law direct aid to the PA is prohibited), and thereby indirectly benefiting from US assistance designed specifically to bypass the PA. [Note: this is the section that was raised as a problem back when Israel was considering imposing massive taxes on foreign government donations to civil society organizations].

Section 7015: Notification Requirements — Part (f) of this provision states that no funds appropriated under titles III through VI of this Act (pretty much all funds in the bill) may be obligated or expended for assistance to a laundry list of countries, “except as provided through regular notification procedures of the Committees on Appropriations.” From the Middle East, the list includes (this year): Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen. 

Section 7021: Prohibition on assistance to governments supporting international terrorism — Perennial provision prohibiting funding to any country “which provides lethal military equipment to a country the government of which the Secretary of State has determined supports international terrorism…” and prohibits bilateral assistance to any country that supports international terrorism, gives sanctuary to terrorists, or is controlled by a terrorist organization. The section includes national security waivers for both restrictions. 

Section 7030: Economic Resilience Initiative — Part (b) of this section states that funding in the Act and prior SFOPS Acts “may be made available for the costs, as defined in section 502 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, of loan guarantees” for various countries, including Egypt and Jordan.

Section 7033: International Religious Freedom — Part (c) notes: “Funds appropriated by this Act and prior Acts making appropriations for the Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs under the heading ‘Economic Support Fund’ may be made available notwithstanding any other provision of law for assistance for ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq and Syria.”

Section 7034: Special Provisions: Part (i)(5)  of this section extends existing U.S. loan guarantees for Israel (provided under Chapter 5 of title I of the Emergency Wartime Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2003 (Public Law 108–11; 117 Stat. 576) until September 30, 2030 [This is the emergency $9 billion that was provided for Israel in 2003, quietly extended over and over by Congress for going on 20 years. As noted in a recent CRS report on US aid to Israel, “Israeli officials may believe that although they have not used the loan guarantees in the last 18 years, maintaining the program boosts the country’s fiscal standing among international creditors in capital markets.“]

Section 7035: Law Enforcement and Security

• Part (b)(3) of this section of the bill is a perennial provision providing for financing of commercial leasing of defense articles to Israel, Egypt, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and major non-NATO allies.
• NEW Part (b)(5) is entitled, “War Reserve Stockpile Authority.” It stipulates that “For fiscal year 2025, section 514(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2321h(b)) shall not apply to defense articles to be set aside, earmarked, reserved, or intended for use as reserve stocks in stockpiles in the State of Israel.” What this means, in effect, is that for FY25, Israel can legally obtain unlimited amounts of defense articles from US war reserve stockpiles.
• Part (c)(2) lays out limitations related to landmines and cluster munitions.
• Part (c)(3) is entitled “Crowd Control.” This perennial provision states that “If the Secretary of State has information that a unit of a foreign security force uses excessive force to repress peaceful expression or assembly concerning corruption, harm to the environment or human health, or the fairness of electoral processes, or in countries that are undemocratic or undergoing democratic transition, the Secretary shall promptly determine if such information is credible: Provided, That if the information is determined to be credible, funds appropriated by this Act should not be used for tear gas, small arms, light weapons, ammunition, or other items for crowd control purposes for such unit, unless the Secretary of State determines that the foreign government is taking effective measures to bring the responsible members of such unit to justice.”
• NEW Part (c)(5) is entitled, “Delivery of Withheld Items.” It stipulates that, “Any defense article and defense service withheld from delivery to Israel by the Department of State as of the date of enactment of this Act, including those contracted through Direct Commercial Sales for the Ministry of Public Security, shall be delivered to Israel not later than 15 days after the date of the enactment of this Act: Provided, That 50 percent of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act under the heading ‘Diplomatic Programs’ and made available for the Office of the Secretary shall be withheld from obligation until the Secretary of State certifies and reports to the Committees on Appropriations that the defense articles and services described in this paragraph have been delivered to Israel.” What this means, in effect, is that House Republicans are seeking to condition key funding for the Department of State/US national security on delivery of military assistance to Israel, irrespective of any US legal requirements that might impede that delivery (in what backers of this provision no doubt see as an awesome example of owning “anti-Israeli libs” who have been calling for conditions on US aid to Israel As in, “you wanted conditions, we’ll give you conditions!”
  
• NEW Part (c)(6) is entitled, “Obligation Requirement.” It stipulates that, “The Secretary of State shall obligate any remaining unobligated balances of funds appropriated or otherwise made available before the date of enactment of this Act for assistance for Israel not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act.” What this means, in effect, is that House Republicans are seeking to compel the Executive to drop even the pretense that aid to Israel is subject to any of  requirements that exist under law and are supposed to apply to all aid recipients.
• CONSPICUOUSLY MISSING: Not included in this section is a provision in current law, Part (d), entitled “Leahy Law,” which states: “For purposes of implementing section 620M of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 [aka, 22 U.S. Code § 2378d – Limitation on assistance to security forces], the term ‘credible information’ means information that, considering the source of such information and the surrounding circumstances, supports a reasonable belief that a violation has occurred, and shall not be determined solely on the basis of the number of sources; whether the source has been critical of a policy of the United States Government or its security partners; whether the source has a personal connection to the information being reported; or whether the United States Government is able to independently verify the information.”

Section 7037: Palestinian statehood — Perennial provision barring (with extensive language) assistance to a Palestinian state that does not meet a series of conditions (includes perennial Presidential waiver authority). It also includes: “The restriction in subsection (a) shall not apply to assistance intended to help reform the Palestinian Authority and affiliated institutions, or the governing entity, in order to help meet the requirements of subsection (a), consistent with the provisions of section 7040 of this Act (“Limitation on Assistance for the Palestinian Authority”)”

Section 7038: Prohibition on Assistance to the Palestinian Broadcasting Corp — Perennial provision (dating back many many years) barring any U.S. assistance to the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation.

Section 7039: Assistance for the West Bank and Gaza

• Part (a): OVERSIGHT – this sub-section stipulates that “For fiscal year 2024, 30 days prior to the initial obligation of funds for the bilateral West Bank and Gaza Program, the Secretary of State shall certify to the Committees on Appropriations that procedures have been established to assure the Comptroller General of the United States will have access to appropriate United States financial information in order to review the uses of United States assistance for the Program funded under the heading ‘Economic Support Fund’ for the West Bank and Gaza.”
• Part (b): VETTING – this sub-section stipulates that “Prior to the obligation of funds appropriated by this Act under the heading “Economic Support Fund” for assistance for the West Bank and Gaza, the Secretary of State shall take all appropriate steps to ensure that such assistance is not provided to or through any individual, private or government entity, or educational institution that the Secretary knows or has reason to believe advocates, plans, sponsors, engages in, or has engaged in, terrorist activity nor, with respect to private entities or educational institutions, those that have as a principal officer of the entity’s governing board or governing board of trustees any individual that has been determined to be involved in, or advocating terrorist activity or determined to be a member of a designated foreign terrorist organization: Provided, That the Secretary of State shall, as appropriate, establish procedures specifying the steps to be taken in carrying out this subsection and shall terminate assistance to any individual, entity, or educational institution which the Secretary has determined to be involved in or advocating terrorist activity.”
• Part (c): PROHIBITION – This subsection bars use of funds for the West Bank and Gaza being used for: “Recognizing or otherwise honoring individuals who commit, or have committed acts of terrorism” or for “any educational institution located in the West Bank or Gaza that is named after an individual who the Secretary of State determines has committed an act of terrorism.” It also bars funding for security assistance for the West Bank and Gaza under the the Secretary of State report to Congress on “the benchmarks that have been established for security assistance for the West Bank and Gaza and on the extent of Palestinian compliance with such benchmarks” and “the steps being taken by the Palestinian Authority to end torture and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of detainees, including by bringing to justice members of Palestinian security forces who commit such crimes.”
• Part (d): AUDIT – this sub-section lays out required oversight by USAID, including annual (at least) audits of “all contractors and grantees, and significant subcontractors and sub-grantees, under the West Bank and Gaza Program“, and allocating up to $1.4 million to USAID for “audits, investigations, and other activities in furtherance of the requirements of this subsection.”
• Part (e): AUDIT – this subsection requires the Comptroller General of the United States to audit and investigate “the treatment, handling, and uses of all funds for the bilateral West Bank and Gaza Program, including all funds provided as cash transfer assistance, in fiscal year 2025 under the heading ‘Economic Support Fund’”
• Part (f): NOTIFICATION – this subsection states that “Funds made available in this Act for West Bank and Gaza shall be subject to the regular notification procedures of the Committees on Appropriations.”

Section 7040: Limitation on Assistance to the Palestinian Authority 

>Prohibiting aid to the PA: Part (a) bars any funds from this act being used to provide funding to the Palestinian Authority.

>Waiver of Prohibition on Aid to the PA (but not really): Part (b) enables the President to waive the ban in (a) if he certifies to Congress that doing so “is important to the national security interest of the United States.” [Note: Don’t let Part (b) fool you. Part (e), below, turns what otherwise looks like a clean national security waiver into an exercise in which the Executive’s ability to support/defend/promote US national security is made conditional on factors that are outside US control; as in, if the Secretary of State cannot make the certification required under part (e) of this section, the president cannot exercise the “waiver” provided under part (b) of this section, US national security be damned].

>Limitations on that supposed waiver: Part (c) stipulates that any waiver under (b) “shall be effective for no more than a period of 6 months at a time and shall not apply beyond 12 months after the enactment of this Act.” Part (d) requires a report to Congress from the President in conjunction with any use of the waiver in part (b), detailing “the justification for the waiver, the purposes for which the funds will be spent, and the accounting procedures in place to ensure that the funds are properly disbursed” and also detailing “the steps the Palestinian Authority has taken to arrest terrorists, confiscate weapons and dismantle the terrorist infrastructure.” And Part (e) requires that in conjunction with any use of the waiver in part (b), the Secretary of State “must certify and report to the Committees on Appropriations prior to the obligation of funds that the Palestinian Authority has established a single treasury account for all Palestinian Authority financing and all financing mechanisms flow through this account, no parallel financing mechanisms exist outside of the Palestinian Authority treasury account, and there is a single comprehensive civil service roster and payroll, and the Palestinian Authority is acting to counter incitement of violence against Israelis and is supporting activities aimed at promoting peace, coexistence, and security cooperation with Israel.”

>Barring Aid to the PLO, Hamas, or any power-sharing govt: Part (f), is a long subsection entitled “Prohibition to Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organization” (lumping together a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization with the internationally recognized representative of the Palestinian people that is NOT on the list of U.S.-designated FTO since that list was first published in 1997).

• This subsection bars funding to the PLO and bars funding for salaries of PA personnel in Gaza or for Hamas or any for  entity “or any entity effectively controlled by Hamas, any power-sharing government of which Hamas is a member, or that results from an agreement with Hamas and over which Hamas exercises undue influence.” NOTE: The formulation in this legislation, which dates back to the Obama era, was explicitly designed to make it difficult for the U.S. engage any kind of Palestinian power-sharing government that could result from some future Fatah-Hamas reconciliation or from some other arrangements that lead to a national unity government or a mutually-agreed technocratic government (the text has evolved over the years in response to Palestinian efforts to achieve such governments).
• The section includes language of past bills stipulating that the prohibition does not apply if the President “certifies and reports to the Committees on Appropriations that such government, including all of its ministers or such equivalent, has publicly accepted and is complying with the principles contained in section 620K(b)(1) (A) and (B) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended.” It also includes the proviso that, “the President may exercise the authority in section 620K(e) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as added by the Palestine Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-446) with respect to this subsection.”
• As a reminder, Section 620K(b)(1)(A) and (B) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, reads as follows: (b) Certification.–A certification described in subsection (a) is a certification transmitted by the President to Congress that contains a determination of the President that– (1) no ministry, agency, or instrumentality of the Palestinian Authority is effectively controlled by Hamas, unless the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Authority has– (A) publicly acknowledged the Jewish state of Israel’s right to exist; and (B) committed itself and is adhering to all previous agreements and understandings with the United States Government, with the Government of Israel, and with the international community, including agreements and understandings pursuant to the Performance-Based Roadmap to a Permanent Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (commonly referred to as the `Roadmap’).
• And 620K(e) reads as follows: (e) National Security Waiver.– (1) In general.–Subject to paragraph (2), the President may waive subsection (a) with respect to-(A) the administrative and personal security costs of the Office of the President of the Palestinian Authority; (B) the activities of the President of the Palestinian Authority to fulfill his or her duties as President, including to maintain control of the management and security of border crossings, to foster the Middle East peace process, and to promote democracy and the rule of law; and (C) assistance for the judiciary branch of the Palestinian Authority and other entities. (2) Certification.–The President may only exercise the waiver authority under paragraph (1) after– (A) consulting with, and submitting a written policy justification to, the appropriate congressional committees; and (B) certifying to the appropriate congressional committees that– (i) it is in the national security interest of the United States to provide assistance otherwise prohibited under subsection (a); and (ii) the individual or entity for which assistance is proposed to be provided is not a member of, or effectively controlled by (as the case may be), Hamas or any other foreign terrorist organization.

===============================================

Section 7041: Middle East and North Africa

>Normalization, the Abraham Accords, & Boycotts/BDS

From the report accompanying the bill:

• Abraham Accords: “The Committee notes the increased understanding, cooperation, and interfaith dialogue brought about by peace and normalization agreements between Israel and Arab states, including the Abraham Accords, and encourages continued progress to expand these agreements, the Negev Forum, and other multilateral efforts. The Committee further notes the need for dedicated resources to support these efforts to expand the foundation and build upon previous progress. The Committee directs the Secretary of State to ensure resources are available to leverage, strengthen, and expand existing peace and normalization agreements and establish new ones. The Secretary shall consult with the appropriate congressional committees on the availability of flexible resources and intended uses of such funds.”
• Arab League boycott of Israel: “It is the sense of the Committee that: (1) the Arab League boycott of Israel, and the secondary boycott of American firms that have commercial ties with Israel, remain an impediment to trade and investment in the Middle East and should be terminated immediately, as should the Central Office for the Boycott of Israel; (2) several Arab states and Israel have made important progress toward peace through treaties, including the Abraham Accords, and normalization agreements, which open a path toward a more stable and prosperous Middle East; (3) all Arab League states should join Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan in establishing and normalizing relations with Israel, in addition to promoting peace negotiations, economic cooperation, and security cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians; (4) the President and the Secretary of State should continue to vigorously oppose the Arab League boycott of Israel; and (5) the President should support broadening and deepening participation in the Abraham Accords, and other normalization agreements, and report annually to the appropriate congressional committees on the United States strategy, including steps being taken by the United States to encourage additional Arab League and other Muslim-majority states to normalize relations with Israel, and the prospect of advancing peace between Israelis and Palestinians.”
• NEW & IMPORTANT Boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) annual report: “The Committee remains concerned about international efforts to stigmatize and isolate Israel through the BDS movement. The Committee directs, as part of the report required in the previous paragraph, that the President add information about the BDS campaign, which shall cover companies, international organizations,countries, and other organizations, including state investment vehicles, that are involved in promoting the movement and specific steps the Department of State has taken or expects to take to discourage or end politically-motivated efforts to boycott, divest from or sanction Israel and Israeli entities. Such reporting requirement shall not be considered met by the requirements of section 909 of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (Public Law 114–125).”
• *****NEW & EXTREMELY IMPORTANT**** BDS vetting: “The Secretary of State shall expand vetting policies and practices to ensure that United States assistance is not provided to or through any individual, private entity, government entity, or educational institution that the Secretary knows or has reason to believe advocates, plans, sponsors, engages in, or has engaged in, the BDS movement. The Committee directs the Secretary and Administrator of USAID to strengthen policies and procedures to ensure organizations supported through funding are not participants in the BDS movement.” NOTE: This is an effort by some in Congress (not for the first time) to compel USAID partners and grantees to agree, as a condition for working with or receiving funding from the US, they do not and will not boycott Israel or engage in any form of differentiation between Israel and settlements. And if past is precedent (the past being the experience of lawfare actors seeking to weaponize USAID contracts), the requirement will be read as broadly as possible, in effect making it impossible for the US to work with key international organizations and partners (including European governments and their agencies), most of which, consistent with international law, differentiate between Israel and settlements.

In a different part of the Report, the Committee also stipulates:

• *****NEW & EXTREMELY IMPORTANT**** BDS vetting: “Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall update the report required under this heading in House Report 118–146 on steps taken to expand vetting policies and procedures to ensure that organizations receiving United States assistance do not directly or indirectly participate in or promote the BDS movement.” NOTE: See comment above.
• Israel Normalization Act implementation: “The Committee directs the Secretary of State to provide annual updates to the appropriate congressional committees on work conducted under the purview of the Israel Relations Normalization Act and on the United States strategy to strengthen, expand, and promote normalization agreements with Israel, consistent with sections 105 and 106 of division Z of Public Law 117–103. The Committee further directs the Secretary to submit an update to the report required under this heading in House Report 118–146, not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, that evaluates efforts by countries to advance efforts to combat hate and promote tolerance, including to discourage violence and intolerance through educational materials.”

Hostages in Gaza — From the report accompanying the bill, “Efforts to release hostages.—The Committee is outraged by the lack of progress to free American, Israeli, and other nationals held captive in Gaza by Hamas since October 7, 2023. The Committee notes that the freedom of those held captive is a top United States national security objective and urges partners and allies in the region to prioritize meeting this objective and achieving the release of the hostages.”

>7041(a): Egypt

Overall conditions on aid: This section of the bill stipulates that funds appropriated by this Act that are available for assistance for Egypt “may be made available notwithstanding any other provision of law restricting assistance for Egypt, except for section 620M of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, and may only be made available for assistance for the Government of Egypt if the Secretary of State certifies and reports to the Committees on Appropriations that such government is—(A) sustaining the strategic relationship with the United States; and (B) meeting its obligations under the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty.”

Reminder: Section 620M of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 states that “No assistance shall be furnished under this Act or the Arms Export Control Act to any unit of the security forces of a foreign country if the Secretary of State has credible information that such unit has committed a gross violation of human rights.” It adds that this prohibition “shall not apply if the Secretary determines and reports to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, and the Committees on Appropriations that the government of such country is taking effective steps to bring the responsible members of the security forces unit to justice.”

The bill states that “not less than $1,425,000,000 shall be made available for assistance for Egypt.” It sub-earmarks that funding as follows:

• ESF: Not less than $125 million is for ESF.  The section stipulates that these funds “shall include support for higher education programs for scholarships for Egyptian students with high financial need to attend not-for-profit institutions of higher education in Egypt that are currently accredited by a regional accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education, or meets standards equivalent to those required for United States institutional accreditation by a regional accrediting agency recognized by such Department, democracy programs, and for development programs in the Sinai.”
• FMF: Not less than $1.3 billion “shall be made available” in FMF for Egypt, and may (per usual) be transferred “to an interest bearing account in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.” The bill also provides not less than $75 million in additional FMF “for assistance to Egypt.”

The Report accompanying the bill notes with respect to Egypt:

• The Committee notes that the United States and Egypt share a mutual interest in Middle East peace and stability, economic opportunity, and regional security. Since the Camp David Accords, United States assistance to Egypt has played an important role in the country’s economic and military development. The Committee recognizes the enduring Egypt-Israel peace agreement as well as Egypt’s ongoing efforts to combat terrorism and counter Iran’s malign influence in the region. Supporting a stable, democratic, and prosperous Egypt continues to be a core objective of United States foreign policy.

• The Committee recommendation includes not less than $1,425,000,000 for assistance for Egypt. Pursuant to subsection (a)(2), an additional $75,000,000 under Foreign Military Financing Program is included to make up for the fiscal year 2021 Foreign Military Financing Program funds that expired before being made available for the intended purpose pursuant to section 7041(a) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2021 (division K of Public Law 116-260). In addition to amounts provided in subsection (a), the Committee directs that $2,000,000 be made available from Non-proliferation, Anti-terrorism, Demining and Related Programs and $2,000,000 be made available from International Military Education and Training, which is the same as the request.

• Pursuant to subsection (a)(3), the Committee directs that $40,000,000 of the funds appropriated under Economic Support Fund and made available for assistance for Egypt be allocated for higher education programs in Egypt, including $17,500,000 for scholarships. Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of USAID shall brief the Committees on Appropriations on implementation of funds made available for scholarships in Egypt.

In a separate section, the Report also notes:

• Religious freedom: “Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall update the report required under this heading in House Report 117–84 concerning the treatment of Christian communities in Egypt.”

>Section 7041(b): Iran

This section of the bill stipulates that funding in the bill (under Diplomatic Programs, ESF, and NADR) “shall be made available (A) to support the United States policy to prevent Iran from achieving the capability to produce or otherwise obtain a nuclear weapon; (B) to support an expeditious response to any violation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions or to efforts that advance Iran’s nuclear program; (C) to support the implementation and enforcement of sanctions against Iran for support of nuclear weapons development, terrorism, human rights abuses, and ballistic missile and weapons proliferation; and (D) for democracy programs in support of the aspirations of the Iranian people.”

It also requires the Secretary of State to submit two reports to Congress:

• the semi-annual report required by section 135(d)(4) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2160e(d)(4)), as added by section 2 of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (Public Law 114–17).
• Not later than 180 days after the enactment of this Act, a report on “(i) the status of United States bilateral sanctions on Iran; (ii) the reimposition and renewed enforcement of secondary sanctions; and (iii) the impact such sanctions have had on Iran’s destabilizing activities throughout the Middle East.”

This section also states: “None of the funds appropriated by this Act may be used to— (A) implement an agreement with the Government of Iran relating to the nuclear program of Iran, or a renewal of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action adopted on October 18, 2015, in contravention of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (42 U.S.C. 2160e); (B) made available to any foreign entity or person that is subject to United Nations or United States bilateral sanctions with respect to the Government of Iran; or (C) revoke the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a Foreign Terrorist Organization pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189).” [NOTE: (B) in the above requirement is new this year]

The Report accompanying the bill notes, with respect to Iran:

• “The Committee continues to support the Iranian people’s desire for democracy and fundamental freedoms, including the right to elect the country’s leadership through free and fair elections. The proven ability of Iranian women to bravely lead the demands for rights and change is recognized and commended by this Committee and met with a commitment to continue support from the American people.”

• “The Committee recognizes the Government of Albania’s role in upholding the fundamental rights of Ashraf–3 residents, including the right to life, liberty, security, protection of property, and freedom of expression and assembly.”

Elsewhere in the Report, the Committee stipulates:

• Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps: “The Committee notes that while the United States has sanctioned the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organization, many treaty allies in Europe and Asia have not done so. Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in conjunction with the Secretary of the Treasury, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a public report detailing the extent to which allied nations’ decision not to sanction the IRGC undermines the effectiveness of United States sanctions. Such report shall also include suggested methods by which the United States could convince treaty allied nations to do so through economic incentives or other means. Such report shall be submitted in unclassified form but may include a classified annex.”

• Iranian internet: “The Committee directs the Secretary of State, not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, to report to the appropriate congressional committees on the progress of programs promoting internet access and internet freedom in Iran, as part of the comprehensive strategy required by section 414 of the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 (Public Law 112–158)”

>Section 7041(c): Iraq

The bill states that funds appropriated under titles III and IV of this Act “shall be made available for assistance for Iraq for—(A) bilateral economic assistance and international security assistance, including in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq; (B) stabilization assistance, including in Anbar Province; (C) programs to support government transparency and accountability, support judicial independence, protect the right of due process, end the use of torture, and combat corruption; (D) humanitarian assistance, including in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq; (E) programs to protect and assist religious and ethnic minority populations; and (F) programs to increase United States private sector investment.”

It also states that ESF funding for Iraq “may not be made available to an organization or entity for which the Secretary of State has credible information is controlled by the Badr Organization.”

The Report accompanying the bill states:

• “Within the amount provided for assistance for Iraq under Economic Support Fund, the Committee directs $15,000,000 be made available to support American-style higher education institutions in Iraq, including in the KRI, on an open and competitive basis. Such funds may include support for non-degree and certificate granting programs at such institutions that equip graduates of universities, institutes, and secondary schools with the knowledge and skills required to obtain gainful employment in the private sector. The Secretary of State and Administrator of USAID, as appropriate, shall include funds to be allocated for this purpose in the spend plan submitted pursuant to section 7062(b) of this Act.”

In a separate section, the Report also stipulates:

• Iranian militia owned companies: “The Committee is aware that the designated foreign terrorist organization Kataib Hezbollah, an Iranian backed militia, owns an Iraqi company known as the Muhandis company. This company has become enmeshed in Iraq’s economy and may be receiving funds from United States regional partner governments. Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to the Committees on Appropriations a report that examines the potential of this company, and any similar companies owned or controlled by Iranian-backed terrorist organizations operating in Iraq or the wider region, to avoid United States sanctions. Such report shall be submitted in unclassified form but may include a classified annex.”

>Section 7041(d): Israel

This section earmarks “not less than” $3.3 billion for Israel, to be disbursed (as usual) in a lump sum within 30 days of this Act becoming law, and with permission for Israel to use $450,300,000 for procurement in Israel.

The Report accompanying the bill notes:

• …The Committee reaffirms its support of the 2016 United States-Israel Memorandum of Understanding, which demonstrates the United States’ unshakable commitment to the security of Israel and to ensuring that Israel’s qualitative military edge and defense capabilities are maintained. The Committee strongly believes in the right and ability of Israel to defend itself against the wide range of threats it faces and believes that a close United States-Israel security partnership benefits the interests of both countries. The Committee further believes that by contributing to a safe and secure Israel, United States assistance positively contributes to any progress towards peace achieved through direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.”

• “The Committee notes that emergency supplemental funds for Israel were requested by the President and provided by Congress, including humanitarian assistance for Israel. The Committee expects funds be made available to address humanitarian needs in Israel, such as safe medical transport, in light of continued attacks on the civilian population by Hamas and Hezbollah.”

>Section 7041(e): Jordan

The bill states that not less than $1,650,000,000 of the funds appropriated by this Act under titles III and IV “shall be made available for assistance for Jordan, of which not less than $845,100,000 shall be made available for budget support for the Government of Jordan and not less than $425,000,000 shall be made available under the heading ‘Foreign Military Financing Program’.” It also stipulates that not less than $400 million of additional ESF “shall be made available for assistance for Jordan, which shall be made available for budget support”, and not less than $50 million of additional FMF “shall be made available for assistance for Jordan”.

The Report accompanying the bill states:

• “The Committee notes the importance of the United States relationship with the Kingdom of Jordan and the strong leadership that Jordan continues to play in advancing peace and stability in the region. The Secretary of State and Administrator of USAID shall continue to support economic reforms, including budget support, to help ensure Jordan’s long-term stability and help mitigate the impact of hosting large numbers of refugees.”
  
• “Subsection (e)(1) directs not less than $1,650,000,000 for assistance for Jordan. Of the total amount provided, the Committee directs that not less than $2,500,000 be made available from International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement, $10,400,000 be made available from Nonproliferation, Anti-terrorism, Demining and Related Programs, and $3,800,000 be made available from International Military Education and Training, which is the same as the request.”
• “Subsection (e)(2) provides an additional $450,000,000 from funds appropriated by this Act for assistance for Jordan to address urgent needs resulting from the malign activities of Iran and its proxies.”

>Section 7041(f): Lebanon

The bill includes an overarching limitation, stating that none of the funds appropriated by this Act “may be made available for the Lebanese Internal Security Forces (ISF) or the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) if the ISF or the LAF is controlled by a foreign terrorist organization…”

SECURITY ASSISTANCE:  The bill states that INCLE and FMF funds in this bill that are made available for assistance for Lebanon “may be made available for programs and equipment for the ISF and the LAF to address security and stability requirements in areas affected by conflict in Syria, following consultation with the appropriate congressional committees.” It further states that FMF funds for Lebanon may ONLY be used for programs to”(i) professionalize the LAF to mitigate internal and external threats from non-state actors, including Hizballah; (ii) strengthen the security of borders and combat terrorism, including training and equipping the LAF to secure the borders of Lebanon and address security and stability requirements in areas affected by conflict in Syria, interdicting arms shipments, and preventing the use of Lebanon as a safe haven for terrorist groups; and (iii) implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701“.

FMF Spend plan: the bill further stipulates that “prior to obligating funds made available by this subparagraph for assistance for the LAF, the Secretary of State shall submit to the Committees on Appropriations a spend plan, including actions to be taken to ensure equipment provided to the LAF is used only for the intended purposes, except such plan may not be considered as meeting the notification requirements under section 7015 of this Act or under section 634A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961: Provided further, That any notification submitted pursuant to such section shall include any funds specifically intended for lethal military equipment.”

The Report accompanying the bill states:

• “Subsection (f) is modified from the prior year by deleting language making Economic Support Fund assistance for Lebanon available notwithstanding any other provision of law. The bill continues the requirement that certain conditions be met prior to the obligation of Foreign Military Financing Program for Lebanon. The Committee intends that assistance provided to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) not be used against Israel and such assistance will not affect Israel’s qualitative military edge in the region.”
• “…The Committee directs that support be continued at not less than the prior year under Economic Support Fund for the Lebanon scholarship program and under Development Assistance for the undergraduate and graduate scholarship program for refugees in Lebanon. The Administrator of USAID is directed to consult with the Committees on Appropriations on an ongoing basis regarding how the programs will be administered consistent with the prior year and by not-for-profit educational institutions in Lebanon that meet the standards required for American accreditation and other matters related to implementation.”
• “The Committee notes the important and enduring partnerships with institutions of higher education in Lebanon and directs the Secretary of State and Administrator of USAID to consult with the Committees on Appropriations on funding for such institutions, including funding made available pursuant to section 7060(a)(2).”
• “The Committee supports continued funding for the Middle East Partnership Initiative scholarship program at not less than the prior year. Scholarships should be made available for institutions that meet standards comparable to those required for American accreditation and should be awarded in a manner consistent with prior fiscal years, including on an open and competitive basis.”

In a different part of the Report, the Committee stipulates:

• LAF performance: “Not later than 45 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Committee directs the Secretary of State to submit to the appropriate congressional committees an updated report, in classified form if necessary, on the performance of the LAF, including an assessment of its operational capabilities and how the training, curriculum, and equipment provided by the United States contributes to those capabilities.”
• Hezbollah influence: “The Committee continues to be concerned about Hezbollah’s growing influence within the Government of Lebanon. The Committee directs the Secretary of State to submit a report to the Committees on Appropriations, not later than 45 days after the date of enactment of this Act, on: (1) the extent of Hezbollah’s influence within such government, including within the LAF; (2) the steps being taken to prevent the use of Lebanon as a safe haven for terrorist groups; (3) the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1701; (4) the prevention of Hezbollah’s building of cross-border tunnels into Israel and weapons factories inside Lebanon; (5) the risks associated with the reported development of precision-guided missiles by Hezbollah and (6) the extent of Hezbollah’s influence on the judicial and financial sectors of Lebanon.”
• United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL): “The Committee remains concerned about UNIFIL’s ability to fulfill its mandate in southern Lebanon to assist the LAF in establishing an area free of any armed personnel, assets, and weapons other than those of the government and of UNIFIL as well as accessing suspected tunnel sites and other areas of concern along the Blue Line. Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Committee directs the Secretary of State to submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees assessing UNIFIL’s efforts to detect tunnels built by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and the steps the Secretary and United States Ambassador to the United Nations are taking to urge the United Nations Security Council to sanction Hezbollah for violations of UNSCR 1701. The report should also include an assessment of whether UNIFIL is complying with its new requirement to increase its visible presence in southern Lebanon and oversee the LAF’s accelerated deployment in southern Lebanon.”

>Section 7041 (g): Morocco

This section stipulates that “Funds appropriated under titles III and IV of this Act shall be made available for assistance for Morocco.” The Report accompanying the bill states: “Within the amount provided for Morocco, the Committee recommendation includes not less than $10,000,000 under Economic Support Fund, not less than $10,000,000 under Development Assistance, and $10,000,000 under Foreign Military Financing Program”

>Section 7041 (h): Saudi Arabia

This section states that: “None of the funds appropriated by this Act under the heading ‘International Military Education and Training’ should be made available for assistance for the Government of Saudi Arabia,” and “None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act and prior Acts making appropriations for the Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs should be obligated or expended by the Export-Import Bank of the United States to guarantee, insure, or extend (or participate in the extension of) credit in connection with the export of nuclear technology, equipment, fuel, materials, or other nuclear technology-related goods or services to Saudi Arabia unless the Government of Saudi Arabia—(A) has in effect a nuclear cooperation agreement pursuant to section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2153); (B) has committed to renounce uranium enrichment and reprocessing on its territory under that agreement; and (C) has signed and implemented an Additional Protocol to its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency.”

>Section 7041(i): Syria

Non-lethal military assistance: This section states that funds appropriated by this Act under titles III and IV “may be made available, notwithstanding any other provision of law, for non-lethal stabilization assistance for Syria, including for emergency medical and rescue response and chemical weapons investigations.”

Limitations: It then lays out limitations on such aid, stipulating that funds for Syria, “(A) may not be made available for a project or activity that supports or otherwise legitimizes the Government of Iran, foreign terrorist organizations (as designated pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189)), or a proxy of Iran in Syria; (B) may not be made available for activities that further the strategic objectives of the Government of the Russian Federation that the Secretary of State determines may threaten or undermine United States national security interests; and (C) may not be used in areas of Syria controlled by a government led by Bashar al-Assad or associated forces or made available to an organization or entity effectively controlled by an official or immediate family member of an official of such government.” [note that in the FY24 law, part (C) says “should not” rather than “may not”].

Monitoring/oversight/consultation/notification: The bill stipulates that prior to obligating any funds for Syria, “the Secretary of State shall take all practicable steps to ensure that mechanisms are in place for monitoring, oversight, and control of such assistance inside Syria.” It also states that “Funds made available pursuant to this subsection may only be made available following consultation with the appropriate congressional committees and shall be subject to the regular notification procedures of the Committees on Appropriations: Provided, That such consultation shall include the steps taken to comply with subparagraph (A) and steps intended to be taken to comply with section 7015(j) of this Act.” [Yes, these are ALL the monitoring/oversight/consultation/notification requirements vis-à-vis aid in this bill for Syria. Take a moment, just for fun, and compare that to the layers and layers of monitoring/oversight/consultation/notification requirements placed on any penny for the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Seriously – I’ll wait…(it will take a while).]

The Report accompanying the bill states:

• …The Committee remains concerned about the lengthy displacement of Syrians, as well as the needs of host communities in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq, among other countries that are continuing to experience compounding shocks, particularly to support recovery in the wake of natural disasters, such as the 2023 earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. The Committee urges the Department of State to continue to: (1) assist host countries to expand their national systems and local government capacities to accommodate refugee needs; (2) increase host country capacity to deliver basic services to their own citizens; (3) employ policies and programs to close gaps in distribution of need-based aid; and (4) support refugee returns if they are safe, dignified, and voluntary.

• The Committee encourages the Secretary of State and Administrator of USAID, in compliance with the limitations on assistance of paragraph (2), to utilize humanitarian and stabilization funds for local Syrian and diaspora organizations, as well as international NGOs, to help implement lifesaving interventions in Syria, including support for emergency medical and rescue response and chemical weapons investigations, and further engage in diplomatic efforts to encourage increased donations for such assistance from United States allies and partners.

• The Committee urges the Administration, within the requirements of this Act, to work to ensure continued delivery of humanitarian aid into and within Syria.

>Section 7041: Tunisia

There is no Tunisia-related funding or provisions in the bill text. However, the Report accompanying the bill notes: “The Committee is alarmed by the deterioration of rights and freedoms in Tunisia since the shutdown of the parliament in July 2021. Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report outlining the United States strategy for supporting democracy in Tunisia”

>Section 7041(j): West Bank and Gaza

The bill includes no earmark (hard or soft) for assistance for either the West Bank or the Gaza Strip. Instead, this section lays out (and expands) limitations, restrictions, etc, on aid to the West Bank and Gaza.

Barring Aid to the PA: Part 1(A) is perennial language (dating back to the Obama era) barring any ESF funding for the PA if, after the date this bill becomes law, “the Palestinians obtain the same standing as member states or full membership as a state in the United Nations or any specialized agency thereof outside an agreement negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians”or if“the Palestinians initiate an International Criminal Court (ICC) judicially authorized investigation, or actively support such an investigation, that subjects Israeli nationals to an investigation for alleged crimes against Palestinians.” 

• As in previous years, no waiver is provided in the case of a Palestinian-initiated or Palestinian-backed effort ICC investigation [as is the case today] — meaning that under this section, the US is barred from granting any ESF for the PA, period (irrespective of whether the Palestinians adopt policy changes to address the demands of the Taylor Force Act, or the U.S. really really wants to support/strengthen the PA as an alternative power in the Gaza Strip, or anything else).
• NEW & IMPORTANT — The current bill text eliminates what had up until now been a perennial part of this section: language enabling the the Secretary of State to waive the ban on assistance to the PA in the case where the Palestinians gain status at the UN if he “certifies to the Committees on Appropriations that to do so is in the national security interest of the United States, and submits a report to such Committees detailing how the waiver and the continuation of assistance would assist in furthering Middle East peace.” Meaning if the Palestinians join any additional UN agencies, the US cannot provide them any aid, irrespective of any US interests etc.

Preventing the PLO Office from Re-Opening in the U.S.: Part 1(B) limits the President’s ability to waive longstanding (and anachronistic) legislation barring the PLO from having any representation in the United States. Where for decades Congress granted the President a “clean” national security or national interests waiver of that prohibition (contained in section 1003 of Public Law 100-204), starting in the Obama era Congress moved to make such waiver contingent on the President certifying that the Palestinians have not, after the date of enactment of this Act, “obtained in the United Nations or any specialized agency thereof the same standing as member states or full membership as a state outside an agreement negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians” or “initiated or actively supported an ICC investigation against Israeli nationals for alleged crimes against Palestinians.”

• NEW & IMPORTANT: This bill layers on another condition for allowing the Palestinians to re-open representation in the U.S.—requiring the President to certify that the Palestinians have not “initiated any further action, whether directly or indirectly, based on an Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice that undermines direct negotiations to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including matters related to final status and Israel’s longstanding security rights and responsibilities.” [as in, they are adding in a condition that has already been violated]
• IMPORTANT: In past years, the bill has permitted the President to waive ban on the Palestinians re-opening some kind of representative office in the US, based on 2 conditions: that the Palestinians “have taken credible steps to enter into direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel and it is important to the national security interests of the United States and the conduct of diplomacy in advancing Middle East peace.” In this new bill text, the requirements for using the waiver have escalated, demanding that the Palestinians, “have entered into direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel” — a requirement that the Palestinians literally do not have the power to meet unilaterally [as in, it takes two to tango…]. Also— and points for honesty here— the new bill eliminates what was already merely a token reference to concerns about US national security.
• NEW & EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: DEFUNDING US DIPLOMATS WHO DEAL WITH PALESTINIANS — Part (1)(c) of this section states simply: “None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be made available for the Office of Palestinian Affairs, Department of State.” NOTE: The Office of Palestinian Affairs is the part of the US Embassy in Jerusalem responsible for dealing with Palestinian-related issues and engaging Palestinians – so in effect this is an effort to end US diplomatic outreach to and engagement with Palestinians.

Application of Taylor Force Act: Part 2 of this section states: “Funds appropriated by this Act under the heading ‘Economic Support Fund’ that are made available for assistance for the West Bank and Gaza shall be made available consistent with section 1004(a) of the Taylor Force Act (title X of division S of Public Law 115–141).”

Relatedly, the Report accompanying the bill includes (in different sections of the report):

• Compliance with the Taylor Force Act— “The Committee underscores the importance of full compliance with the restrictions of the Taylor Force Act (title X of division S of Public Law 115–141) and continued efforts to fully implement the law, including increasing diplomatic efforts to end the Palestinian Authority’s practice of paying salaries to terrorists serving in Israeli prisons and paying for acts of terrorism. As described in section 7040 of this Act, and in compliance with the Taylor Force Act, no funding made available by this Act shall be provided to the Palestinian Authority.”

• Prisoner payments— “Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State is directed to submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees on the status of negotiating an end to the Palestinian Authority’s practice of paying salaries to terrorists and families of terrorists serving in prison and other forms of such support.”

Security report: Part 3 of this section states: “The reporting requirements in section 1404 of the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2008 (Public Law 110–252) shall apply to funds made available by this Act, including a description of modifications, if any, to the security strategy of the Palestinian Authority..”

• As a reminder, Section 1404 of PL 110-252 states: “Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act and 180 days thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to the Committees on Appropriations a report on assistance provided by the United States for the training of Palestinian security forces, including detailed descriptions of the training, curriculum, and equipment provided; an assessment of the training and the performance of forces after training has been completed; and a description of the assistance that has been pledged and provided to Palestinian security forces by other donors: Provided, That not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall report to the Committees on Appropriations, in classified form if necessary, on the security strategy of the Palestinian Authority.”

Incitement report: Part 4 of this section states: “Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees detailing steps taken by the Palestinian Authority to counter incitement of violence against Israelis and to promote peace and coexistence with Israel.”  [The bill of course nowhere acknowledges, let alone calls for action to address, the non-stop genocidal, racist, violent, dehumanizing, hateful rhetoric and incitement that is being produced every by Israeli politicians, media figures, active-duty soldiers, and hasbara heroes  – and disseminated by them, giddily, on media and social media pretty much every day since October 7th).

NEW & EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: Directive: Part 5 of this section states: “Beginning in fiscal year 2025,the Secretary of State shall bifurcate the budget operating unit of ‘West Bank and Gaza’ into separate units.” NOTE: Under the Oslo Accords (which the US ostensibly still supports), the West Bank and Gaza Strip are to be treated as a single territorial unit. Efforts to bifurcate them into separate units align closely with longstanding efforts of Greater Israel advocates.

The Report accompanying the bill states:

• “Monitoring, notification, and vetting.—The Committee directs the Secretary of State and Administrator of USAID to promptly inform the appropriate congressional committees of any alleged incident involving any United States assistance used in such a way that adversely affects or jeopardizes such assistance. This includes any incidents where United States assistance has directly or indirectly been provided to an individual or organization with ties to terrorism or incitement of violence.”
• “The Committee notes allegations of assistance provided to individuals or entities engaging in political activities and directs the Secretary of State and Administrator of USAID to expand vetting policies and practices to include an assessment of political neutrality and a review of statements by individuals or organizations that constitute engagement in political advocacy, incitement, or support for terrorism that would cause operational and reputational risks for the United States Government.”
• “Nita M. Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Act.—The Committee supports efforts that foster reconciliation and engagement and therefore recommends not less than the prior fiscal year level under Economic Support Fund for the Nita M. Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Act (title VIII of division K of Public Law 116–260).”

>Western Sahara

There bill text doesn’t mention Western Sahara, but the Report accompanying the bill notes (in separate sections of the Report):

• Middle East Partnership Initiative availability and consultation requirement.— “The Committee recommends funds under title III of this Act, which shall be made available for assistance for the Western Sahara. Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, and prior to the obligation of such funds, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Administrator of USAID, shall consult with the Committees on Appropriations on the proposed uses of such funds.”.”
• United Nations political process on Western Sahara.— “The Secretary of State shall continue to support a United Nations-led political process that achieves a just, lasting, and mutually acceptable political solution in accordance with relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions.”

>Section 7041(k): Yemen

Bill text states (new): “None of the funds appropriated by this Act may be used to revoke the designation of Ansarallah as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group.”

The Report accompanying the bill states:

• The Committee recommendation includes funds appropriated under title III and Nonproliferation, Anti-terrorism, Demining and Related Programs for support of health, humanitarian, and stabilization efforts in Yemen, including demining operations and support for Yemeni local and community-based organizations.
• The Committee remains concerned by the absence of accountability for civilian harm, crimes against humanity, and other violations of international law, including obstruction of humanitarian assistance, by Houthi rebels and other malign actors in Yemen. The Committee urges the Secretary of State to lead efforts to restore an independent, international, and adequately resourced human rights monitoring and reporting mechanism in Yemen as soon as possible. The Committee directs the Secretary to prioritize and ensure the meaningful inclusion and participation of Yemeni women and civil society organizations in the peace process and to emphasize the rights and needs of children in any lasting peace agreement.”

===============================================

Section 7046: Europe and Eurasia

Part (c) of this section of the bill states (perennial language): “None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to facilitate or support the sale of defense articles or defense services to the Turkish Presidential Protection Directorate (TPPD) under chapter 2 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2761 et seq.) unless the Secretary of State determines and reports to the appropriate congressional committees that members of the TPPD who are named in the July 17, 2017, indictment by the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, and against whom there are pending charges, have returned to the United States to stand trial in connection with the offenses contained in such indictment or have otherwise been brought to justice: Provided, That the limitation in this paragraph shall not apply to the use of funds made available by this Act for border security purposes, for North Atlantic Treaty Organization or coalition operations, or to enhance the protection of United States officials and facilities in Turkey.”

The Report accompanying the bill also notes:

• The Committee remains concerned about the harassment of dissidents in Turkey and abroad. The Committee urges the Secretary of State to assess the threats posed to dissidents and ensure available and relevant information, as appropriate, is shared with these individuals in a timely fashion”

Section 7048: United Nations

NEW & EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: Withholding of 15% of US funding to the UN & UN Agencies— Part (a) of this section requires the withholding from obligation of 15% of the US contribution to  to the United Nations, “including the Department of Peacekeeping Operations), international organizations, or any United Nations agency,” until the Secretary of State determines and reports to the appropriate congressional committees that the organization, department, or agency is meeting a laundry list of requirements, including “taking credible steps to combat anti-Israel bias.”

NEW & EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: Legislating the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism—The Report accompanying the bill notes: “Accountability report.—In carrying out the requirement of subsection (a), the Secretary of State shall also consider and report on efforts to combat antisemitism, as defined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, as appropriate.”

Restrictions on UN Delegations and Organizations: Part (b) lays out perennial provisions restricting US funding to the UN. Part (b)(1) prohibits funding expenses for expenses for any US delegation to anything having to do with, or contributions to any agency, body, or commission associated with the UN that is chaired or presided over by a country, the government of which the Secretary of State has determined, according to U.S. law, “supports international terrorism.” Part (b)(2) bars US contributions to any organization, agency, commission, or program within the United Nations system if such organization, agency, commission, or program is chaired or presided over by a country the government of which the Secretary of State has determined “has repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism.”

• NEW & IMPORTANT: Past versions of this section include Part 3, which gives the Secretary of State the authority to waive these 2 prohibitions if he/she determines and reports to Congress that doing so is important for the national interest of the United States. The current bill eliminates that waiver.

UN Human Rights Council: Part (c) is entitled “United Nations Human Rights Council.

>Part (c)(1) bars funding the UNHRC “unless the Secretary of State determines and reports to the appropriate congressional committees that participation in the Council is important to the national interest of the United States and that such Council is taking significant steps to remove Israel as a permanent agenda item and ensure integrity in the election of members to such Council” [so once again, ensuring US national interest is made conditional on an Israel-related requirement]. The provision adds that any such report “shall include a description of the national interest served and provide a detailed reform agenda, including a timeline to remove Israel as a permanent agenda item and ensure integrity in the election of members to such Council.” It goes on to state that unless/until such a determination has been made and the resulting report made to Congress, the US must withhold from its annual (required) contribution to the UN’s regular budget the United States’ proportionate share of the total annual funding for the UNHRC. Moreover, the Secretary of State is required to report to Congress (by 9/30/25) “on the resolutions considered in the United Nations Human Rights Council during the previous 12 months, and on steps taken to remove Israel as a permanent agenda item and to improve the quality of membership through competitive elections.”

The Report accompanying the bill adds: “The Committee notes the continued lack of progress at UNHRC towards meaningful reforms to restore its credibility as a human rights body. UNHRC continues to elevate, legitimize, and shield the worst human rights offenders while simultaneously increasing an unjustified fixation on Israel. Therefore, the Committee continues the strengthened conditions in subsection (c), which prohibits funds for UNHRC until certain actions are taken, including specific steps to remove Israel as a permanent agenda item, to ensure integrity of the election of members to the Council. The report required in subsection (c)(1) shall include specific progress made to ensure integrity in the election of members to UNHRC. The Committee does not support the use of blank slate tactics to gain membership to such Council, as was done by the United States in October 2021, and notes that despotic countries with poor human rights records also use this tactic to gain membership, undermining the legitimacy of the election process and the Council.”

>Part (c)(2) bars funding for the UN International Commission on Inquiry (COI) — “None of the funds appropriated by this Act may be made available for the United Nations International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, notwithstanding any other provision of law. ”

>NEW & EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: Destroying UNRWA—Part (d) legislates the defunding (and requires work to start the process of replacing) UNRWA

• NO FUNDING FOR UNRWA — Part (d)(1) bars the use of funds “(A) for a contribution, grant, or other payment to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), notwithstanding any other provision of law; or (B) to solicit or otherwise encourage funds for UNRWA from other donors and sources, notwithstanding any other provision of law.”
• KILL/REPLACE UNRWA — Part (d)(2) states: “Not later than 45 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit a transition plan to the appropriate congressional committees for providing assistance in the Middle East without direct or indirect funding to, or support from, UNRWA.”
• The Report accompanying the bills piles on exuberantly against UNRWA: “...The Committee notes that UNRWA has been compromised by staff who have promoted incitement to violence, antisemitism, and the destruction of the State of Israel. The Committee is concerned by UNRWA’s relationship with Hamas and other terrorist organizations, including credible allegations that several UNRWA staff participated in the October 7, 2023 massacre that killed over 1,200 people, including American citizens, and was the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Further, the Committee is concerned by the use of UNRWA facilities to shield Hamas infrastructure, such as the Hamas data center under UNRWA’s Gaza headquarters. The Committee notes allegations that significant numbers of UNRWA staff celebrated the October 7 massacre on social media and that hundreds of UNRWA staff, including school principals and senior UNRWA management, are also members of terrorist organizations that violently oppress the Palestinian people, including by using them as human shields. The Committee recognizes that the Palestinian people deserve better than to be subjected to UNRWA’s failure to promote peaceful coexistence with the State of Israel.”

>NEW & EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: De-funding the International Court of Justice (ICJ)—Part (n) states: “None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act and prior Acts making appropriations for the Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs may be made available for a contribution, grant, or other payment to the International Court of Justice, notwithstanding any other provision of law.”

>NEW & EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: De-funding the International Criminal Court (ICC)— Part (m) states: “None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act and prior Acts making appropriations for the Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs may be made available for a contribution, grant, or other payment to the International Criminal Court, notwithstanding any other provision of law.”

• Regarding the ICJ and ICC, the Report accompanying the bill notes: “The Committee strongly condemns and unequivocally rejects one-sided, politicized, anti-Israel activity at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ) and prohibits funds provided in this and prior acts for such courts. The Committee directs the Secretary of State to prioritize diplomatic efforts to prevent any further efforts to weaponize the ICC and ICJ against Israel.”

The Report includes extensive additional UN-related language (in various sections), including:

• ***NEW & IMPORTANT*** De-funding [and for all intents and purposes pulling the US out of] the UN and certain UN agencies: “The Committee recommendation does not include funding for assessed contributions for certain United Nations agencies and other international organizations, including the United Nations regular budget. The Committee also prohibits funds to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). The Committee remains concerned with the continued lack of progress toward meaningful reforms at the United Nations that, at a minimum, should include increased fiscal transparency, meaningful consequences for sexual misconduct by United Nations officials and peacekeepers, protections for whistleblowers, combating antisemitism, and holding member states accountable for undermining international security and investigations into the origins of COVID–19. The Committee strongly condemns the United Nations General Assembly for undermining peace and security between the Israeli and Palestinian people by passing the ‘Status of Palestine in the United Nations’ resolution that provided the ‘State of Palestine’ almost all the rights and privileges as Member States. The Committee notes that the United Nations is not capable of living up to its charter that includes the purpose ‘to maintain international peace and security’. The Committee has concluded that further assessed contributions to the United Nations are not justified and increased scrutiny and oversight must predicate any consideration of a voluntary contribution to the United Nations or any United Nations agency...”
• [in a section targeting the World Health Organization]: “The WHO has failed to effectively advocate for Taiwan’s inclusion and further demonstrated broken priorities in the most recent World Health Assembly by electing North Korea to the Executive Board and adopting a biased, anti-Israel resolution, which was the only country-specific resolution adopted during the session.”
• United Nations anti-Israel agenda: “The Committee urges the Secretary of State to declare it is the policy of the United States to pursue the principled position to veto one-sided, anti-Israel resolutions at the United Nations Security Council”
• NEW & IMPORTANT – United Nations voting practices: “In considering bilateral assistance for a foreign government, the Secretary of State shall review, among other factors, the voting practices of such government at the United Nations in relation to United States strategic interests.” [as a reminder, this is basically the policy then-US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley articulated in 2018]
• Annual report on anti-Israel bias: “Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees describing instances of anti-Israel bias at the United Nations, including an identification of the agencies and entities where such bias has been demonstrated in the past, including those that appear under this heading in title I of House Report 116–444.”

Section 7069: Gaza Oversight & Other Matters

In the context of the ongoing Israel-made humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip, and the urgent need for assistance to Gaza, Congress decided in the FY24 SFOPS that rather than (a) earmarking significant funding for Gaza, (b) including a clear directive for the State Department to provide funding for Gaza; and (c) including language demanding that Israel comply with US law, according to which US funding is contingent Israel NOT blocking the flow of US humanitarian aid (which it manifestly is doing), it would instead pile a new set of arduous oversight requirements specific to Gaza, to be layered on top of the long, long list of conditions, restrictions, limitations, oversight, vetting, reporting, etc required in various provisions already imposed on the West Bank and Gaza (in the various sections discussed above)– conditions that seem almost designed for the purpose of making it virtually impossible for the US to provide meaningful humanitarian aid to people who are living in a war zone for more than 8 months, with famine conditions, spreading disease, and totally destroyed medical and humanitarian infrastructure.

That is this section, with additional anti-Palestinian cruelly layered on in this new FY25 bill.

Specifically:

FAR-REACHING OVERSIGHT ON ASSISTANCE IN GAZA: Part (a) requires the Secretary of State to certify and report to Congress (within 15 days of this Act becoming law) that: “(1) oversight policies, processes, and procedures have been established by the Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development, as appropriate, and are in use to prevent the diversion to Hamas and other terrorist and extremist entities in Gaza and the misuse or destruction by such entities of assistance, including through international organizations; and (2) such policies, processes, and procedures have been developed in coordination with other bilateral and multilateral donors and the Government of Israel, as appropriate.”

REPORT TO CONGRESS ON OVERSIGHT OF ASSISTANCE TO GAZA: Part (b) requires the Secretary of State and the USAID Administrator to submit to Congress (at the same time as the report required above) “a written description of the oversight policies, processes, and procedures for funds appropriated by this Act that are made available for assistance for Gaza, including specific actions to be taken should such assistance be diverted, misused, or destroyed, and the role of the Government of Israel in the oversight of such assistance.”

REQUIREMENT TO INFORM CONGRESS OF MIS-USE OF GAZA ASSISTANCE: Part (c) requires the Secretary of State and the USAID Administrator to “promptly inform the appropriate congressional committees of each instance in which funds appropriated by this Act that are made available for assistance for Gaza have been diverted, misused, or destroyed, to include the type of assistance, a description of the incident and parties involved, and an explanation of the response of the Department of State or USAID, as appropriate.”

THIRD-PARTY MONITORING OF GAZA ASSISTANCE: Part (d) requires that funding in the Act “be made available for third party monitoring of assistance for Gaza, including end use monitoring, following consultation with the appropriate congressional committees.”

QUARTERLY REPORT TO CONGRESS ON GAZA ASSISTANCE: Part (e) requires that, after the initial obligation of funds for Gaza, the Secretary of State and the USAID Administrator report to Congress every 90 days “detailing the amount and purpose of such assistance provided during each respective quarter, including a description of the specific entity implementing such assistance.”

INTELL REPORT TO CONGRESS ON MIS-USE OF GAZA ASSISTANCE: Part (f) requires the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence and other heads of elements of the intelligence community, to submit to Congress a report (every 90 days) “assessing whether funds appropriated by this Act and made available for assistance for the West Bank and Gaza have been diverted to or destroyed by Hamas or other terrorist and extremist entities in the West Bank and Gaza“.

CONSULTATION WITH CONGRESS ON GAZA ASSISTANCE: Part (g) requires that not later than 30 days after this Act becomes law, but prior to the initial obligation of funds for Gaza, “the Secretary of State and USAID Administrator, as appropriate, shall consult with the Committees on Appropriations on the amount and anticipated uses of such funds.”

NEW & IMPORTANT—IG INVESTIGATIONS OF USG PARTNERS IN GAZA ASSISTANCE: Part (h) requires that the Inspectors General of the Department of State and USAID conduct investigations of their agencies implementing partners with respect to assistance in the West Bank and Gaza, or “entities that provide logistical support to implementing partners” [I’m pretty sure this is code for UNRWA] in order to determine if “allegations or reports that such entities have employed staff or contractors that are members of, or affiliated with, a United States designated terrorist organization or have participated in any terrorist act, including before, on, or after October 7, 2023, are credible, and, as appropriate, refer their investigative findings for potential criminal, civil, or administrative enforcement remedies.” [in effect a provision accusing US partner organizations of being in league with Hamas]

NEW & IMPORTANT [and underscoring that the racist, dehumanizing cruelty really is the point]—NO GAZA REFUGEES IN US: NEW Part (i) states: “None of the funds appropriated by this Act and prior Acts making appropriations for the Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs under the headings ‘Migration and Refugee Assistance’ and ‘United States Emergency Refugee and Migration Fund’ may be used to support the admission and resettlement into the United States of a foreign national from Gaza.”

Added by amendment in Full Committee mark-up

• NEW Targeting US Universities: During the Full Committee mark-up, a provision was added via en bloc amendment by Diaz-Balart (R-FL) barring any funding in the bill being made available to any U.S. university “that has failed to take administrative action against any student, staff member, or student group that commits acts of antisemitism while utilizing the facilities, grounds, or resources of said institution.”
• NEW Targeting the Maldives: During the Full Committee mark-up, a provision was added via an amendment offered by Clyde (R-GA), barring funding to the Republic of the Maldives “until the Secretary of State determines that the Republic has revoked its ban on Israeli passport holders.”