[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1061 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1061
To encourage the normalization of relations with Israel, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 25, 2021
Mr. Portman (for himself, Mr. Booker, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Young, Ms. Rosen,
Mr. Risch, Mr. Coons, Ms. Collins, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Grassley, Mrs.
Feinstein, Mr. Sasse, Mr. Warnock, Mr. Boozman, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr.
Tillis, Mr. Kaine, and Mr. Hawley) introduced the following bill; which
was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To encourage the normalization of relations with Israel, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Israel Relations Normalization Act
of 2021''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Support for peace between Israel and its neighbors has
longstanding bipartisan support in Congress.
(2) For decades, the United States Congress has promoted
Israel's acceptance among Arab and other relevant countries and
regions to enact numerous laws opposing efforts to boycott,
isolate, and stigmatize America's ally, Israel.
(3) The recent peace and normalization agreements between
Israel and several Arab states--the United Arab Emirates,
Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco--have the potential to
fundamentally transform the security, diplomatic, and economic
environment in the Middle East and North Africa and advance
vital United States national security interests.
(4) These historic agreements could help advance peace
between Israel, the Arab states, and relevant countries and
regions, further diplomatic openings, and enhance efforts
towards a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict resulting in two states--a democratic Jewish state of
Israel and a viable democratic Palestinian state--living side
by side in peace, security, and mutual recognition.
(5) These agreements build upon the decades-long leadership
of the United States Government in helping Israel broker peace
treaties with Egypt and Jordan and promoting peace talks
between Israel and Syria, Lebanon, and the Palestinians.
(6) These agreements also build on decades-long private
diplomatic and security engagement between Israel and countries
in the region.
(7) These normalization and peace agreements could begin to
transform the region by spurring economic growth, enhancing
technological innovation, advancing understanding, and forging
closer people-to-people relations.
(8) These agreements could promote investment, tourism, and
direct flights, and promote cooperation on security,
telecommunications, technology, energy, healthcare, culture,
the environment, water security, and sustainable development.
SEC. 3. APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DEFINED.
In this Act, the term ``appropriate congressional committees''
means--
(1) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on
Armed Services of the Senate; and
(2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on
Armed Services of the House of Representatives.
SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States--
(1) to expand and strengthen the Abraham Accords to
encourage other nations to normalize relations with Israel and
ensure that existing agreements reap tangible security and
economic benefits for the citizens of those countries;
(2) to develop and implement a regional strategy to
encourage economic cooperation among Israel, Arab states, and
the Palestinians to enhance the prospects for peace, respect
for human rights, and transparent governance, and for
cooperation to address water scarcity, climate solutions,
health care, sustainable development, and other areas that
result in benefits for residents of those countries;
(3) to develop and implement a regional security strategy
that recognizes the shared threat posed by Iran and violent
extremist organizations, ensures sufficient United States
deterrence in the region, builds partner capacity to address
shared threats, and explores multilateral security arrangements
built around like-minded partners;
(4) to support and encourage government-to-government and
grassroots initiatives aimed at normalizing ties with the state
of Israel and promoting people-to-people contact between
Israelis, Arabs, and other relevant countries and regions,
including by expanding and enhancing the Abraham Accords;
(5) to oppose efforts to delegitimize the state of Israel
and legal barriers to normalization with Israel;
(6) to work to combat anti-Semitism and support
normalization with Israel, including by countering anti-Semitic
narratives on social media and state media and pressing for
curricula reform in education; and
(7) to encourage partnerships and collaboration on climate
solutions, water, health, sustainable development, and other
areas.
SEC. 5. UNITED STATES STRATEGY TO STRENGTHEN AND EXPAND ABRAHAM ACCORDS
AND OTHER RELATED NORMALIZATION AGREEMENTS WITH ISRAEL.
(a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State,
in consultation with the Administrator of the United States Agency for
International Development, the Secretary of Defense, and the heads of
other appropriate Federal departments and agencies, shall develop and
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a strategy on
expanding and strengthening the Abraham Accords.
(b) Elements.--The strategy required under subsection (a) shall
include the following elements:
(1) An assessment of future staffing and resourcing
requirements of entities within the Department of State, the
United States Agency for International Development, the
Department of Defense, and other appropriate Federal
departments and agencies with responsibility to coordinate
United States efforts to expand and strengthen the Abraham
Accords.
(2) An assessment of the bilateral and multilateral
cooperation between Israel, Arab states, and other relevant
countries and regions that have normalized relations with
Israel, including an assessment of cooperation in the economic,
social, cultural, scientific, technical, educational, and
health fields, and an assessment of roadblocks to increased
cooperation.
(3) An assessment of bilateral and multilateral security
cooperation between Israel, the United States, Arab states, and
other relevant countries and regions that have normalized
relations with Israel, including an assessment of potential
roadblocks to increased security cooperation, interoperability,
and information sharing.
(4) An assessment of the likelihood of additional Arab and
other relevant countries and regions to normalize relations
with Israel.
(5) A detailed description of how the United States
Government will leverage diplomatic lines of effort and
resources from other stakeholders (including from foreign
governments, international donors, and multilateral
institutions) to encourage normalization, economic development,
and people-to-people programming.
SEC. 6. REPORT ON INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS TO PROMOTE NORMALIZATION.
(a) In General.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the
Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development
and the heads of other relevant Federal departments and agencies, shall
submit a report to the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and
the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives
regarding options for United States international efforts to promote
strengthening of ties between Israel, Arab states, and other relevant
countries and regions.
(b) Elements.--The report required under paragraph (1) shall
include the following elements:
(1) A description of options for leveraging contributions
of international donors, institutions, and partner countries to
facilitate people-to-people and government-to-government
relations between Israelis and Arabs.
(2) Identification of existing investment funds that
support Israel-Arab state cooperation and recommendations for
how such funds could be used to support normalization and
increase prosperity for all relevant stakeholders.
(3) A proposal for how the United States Government and
others can utilize the scholars and Arabic language resources
of the United States Holocaust Museum to counter Holocaust
denial and anti-Semitism.
(4) An assessment for creating an Abrahamic Center for
Pluralism to prepare educational materials, convene
international seminars, promote tolerance and pluralism, and
bring together scholars as a means of advancing religious
tolerance and countering political and religious extremism.
(5) An assessment of the value to Israel and its neighbors
of participating in a regional conference on climate solutions,
water, health, and sustainable development.
(6) An assessment of the feasibility and value of
increasing the capacity of existing Department of State and
United States Agency for International Development-funded
programs for developing people-to-people exchange programs for
young people between Israel, Arab states, and other relevant
countries and regions.
(7) Recommendations to improve Department of State
cooperation and coordination, particularly between the Special
Envoy to Monitor Anti-Semitism and the Ambassador at Large for
International Religious Freedom, and the Office of
International Religious Freedom, to combat racism, xenophobia,
Islamophobia, and anti-Semitism, which hinder improvement of
relations between Israel, Arab states, and other relevant
countries and regions.
(8) An assessment of the value and feasibility of Federal
support for interparliamentary exchange programs for Members of
Congress, Knesset, and parliamentarians from Arab and other
relevant countries and regions, including through existing
Federal programs that support such exchanges.
SEC. 7. BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS TO NORMALIZATION WITH ISRAEL.
(a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the ``Strengthening
Reporting of Actions Taken Against the Normalization of Relations with
Israel Act of 2021''.
(b) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The Arab League, an organization comprising 22 Middle
Eastern and African countries and entities, has maintained an
official boycott of Israeli companies and Israeli-made goods
since the founding of Israel in 1948.
(2) Longstanding United States policy has encouraged Arab
League states to normalize their relations with Israel and has
long prioritized funding cooperative programs that promote
normalization between Arab League States and Israel, including
the Middle East Regional Cooperation program, which promotes
Arab-Israeli scientific cooperation.
(3) While some Arab League governments are signaling
enhanced cooperation with the state of Israel on the
government-to-government level, most continue to persecute
their own citizens who establish people-to-people relations
with Israelis in nongovernmental fora, through a combination of
judicial and extrajudicial retribution.
(4) Some Arab League states maintain draconian anti-
normalization laws that punish their citizens for people-to-
people relations with Israelis, with punishments including
imprisonment, revocation of citizenship, and execution.
Extrajudicial punishments by these and other Arab states
include summary imprisonment, accusations of ``treason'' in
government-controlled media, and professional blacklisting.
(5) Anti-normalization laws, together with the other forms
of retribution, effectively condemn these societies to mutual
estrangement and, by extension, reduce the possibility of
conciliation and compromise.
(6) Former Israeli President Shimon Peres said in 2008 at
the United Nations that Israel agrees with the Arab Peace
Initiative that a military solution to the conflict ``will not
achieve peace or provide security for the parties''.
(7) Despite the risk of retaliatory action, a rising tide
of Arab civic actors advocate direct engagement with Israeli
citizens and residents. These include the Arab Council for
Regional Integration, a group of 32 public figures from 15 Arab
countries who oppose the boycott of Israel on the grounds that
the boycott has denied Arabs the benefits of partnership with
Israelis, has blocked Arabs from helping to bridge the Israeli-
Palestinian divide, and inspired divisive intra-Arab boycotts
among diverse sects and ethnic groups.
(8) On February 11, 2020, a delegation of the Arab Council
to the French National Assembly in Paris testified to the
harmful effects of ``anti-normalization laws'', called on the
Assembly to enact a law instructing the relevant French
authorities to issue an annual report on instances of Arab
government retribution for any of their citizens or residents
who call for peace with Israel or engage in direct civil
relations with Israeli citizens, and requested democratic
legislatures to help defend the region's civil peacemakers.
(9) On May 11, 2020, 85 leaders in France published an
endorsement of the Arab Council's proposal, calling on France
and other democratic governments to ``protect Arabs who engage
in dialogue with Israeli citizens'' and proposing ``the
creation of a study group in the National Assembly as well as
in the Senate whose mission would be to ensure a legal and
technical monitoring of the obstacles which Arab proponents of
dialogue with Israelis face''.
(10) Arab-Israeli cooperation provides significant
symbiotic benefit to the security and economic prosperity of
the region.
(c) Annual Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for 5 years,
the Secretary of State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign
Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of
the House of Representatives a report on the status of the
normalization of relations with Israel.
(2) Elements.--The report required under paragraph (1)
shall include the following information:
(A) The status of ``anti-normalization laws'' in
each country within the jurisdiction of the Bureau of
Near Eastern Affairs, including efforts within each
country to sharpen existing laws, enact new or
additional ``anti-normalization legislation'', or
repeal such laws.
(B) Instances of prosecution of citizens or
residents of Arab countries for calling for peace with
Israel, visiting the state of Israel, or engaging
Israeli citizens in any way.
(C) Instances of extrajudicial retribution by Arab
governments or government-controlled institutions
against citizens or residents of Arab countries for any
of the same actions referred to in subparagraph (B).
(D) Evidence of steps taken by Arab governments
toward permitting or encouraging people-to-people
relations between their citizens or residents and
Israeli citizens.
(E) Instances where Arab governments used state-
owned or state-operated media outlets to promote anti-
Semitic propaganda.
SEC. 8. SUNSET.
This Act shall cease to be effective on the date that is 5 years
after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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