Congressional findings

Congress finds: (1)In 1995, the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (commonly referred to as the Oslo II Accord) formally divided Judea and Samaria into three administrative divisions, with Area C being under full Israeli civil and security control; therefore, foreign countries should not discriminate against Israeli organizations that operate there. (2)In 1995, the United States Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act (Public Law 104–45) which formally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel, and concluded that it should remain an undivided city. (3)The claim that Israeli settlements beyond the 1949 armistice lines are an obstacle to peace has been repeatedly disproven, and the 2005 expulsion from Gaza and the 2010 freeze on natural growth in the settlements harmed the peace process and led to an increase in violence, not a decrease. (4)Notwithstanding allegations to the contrary, Israeli settlements in these territories do not in any way violate Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention; they are completely voluntary, and do not involve individual or mass forcible transfers prohibited by subpart (1) of Article 49. (5)In 2009, the Kingdom of Spain refused to allow a team from Ariel University Center of Samaria (now known as Ariel University) to participate in a solar energy competition funded by the United States Department of Energy solely because the university was located beyond Israel’s 1949 armistice line; at the same time, the Spanish government funded projects from universities in other disputed regions including Artsakh State University in Nagorno-Karabakh and Eastern Mediterranean University in Northern Cyprus. (6)In 2010, The Government Pension Fund of Norway excluded several Israeli companies based solely on the fact that they operate in Judea and Samaria. (7)In 2010, the European Court of Justice issued a ruling in Brita GmbH v. Hauptzollamt Hamburg-Hafen (Case C–386/08) prohibiting Israeli products produced beyond the 1949 armistice line from being labeled as Made in Israel, which caused them to be subject to higher tariffs. (8)In 2010, the United Kingdom banned an Israeli tourism advertisement because it included a photograph of the Old City of Jerusalem, which is located beyond the 1949 armistice line and was fully annexed by Israel in 1980. (9)In 2013, the European Union issued orders forbidding its member states from cooperating, transferring funds, or giving scholarships or research grants to organizations beyond Israel’s 1949 armistice line.