WASHINGTON (JTA) — The top Republican and Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee introduced a resolution urging the Obama administration to increase its activities against any boycott of Israel.
The nonbinding resolution introduced July 30 by Reps. Ed Royce, R-Calif., and Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., respectively the chairman and ranking member of the House of Representatives committee, calls on the administration “to increase the use of its voice, vote, and influence in international organizations and other appropriate international forums to actively oppose politically motivated acts of boycott, divestment from, and sanctions against Israel.”
The language notably does not mention “Israeli controlled territories,” which appeared in a controversial amendment to a trade law Congress passed in June that mandated U.S. trade officials raise their concerns about Israel boycotts in their interactions with counterparts from other countries.
The Obama administration has said it will not make that portion of the law a priority because it does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank.
The Engel-Royce resolution also “reaffirms its strong support for a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict resulting in two states, a democratic, Jewish State of Israel and a viable, democratic Palestinian state,” also notable because some leading members of the current Israeli government have rejected the two-state solution.
