The U.S. House of Representatives approved a free trade agreement with Bahrain that requires the Persian Gulf country to end its boycott of Israel. Negotiated by U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman, the agreement sets a precedent that makes free trade with the United States conditional on trade with Israel. The House bill, which passed Wednesday 327-95, requires the administration to report back to the House each year on Bahrain’s progress in dismantling its primary, secondary and tertiary boycotts of Israel. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobbied hard for the bill. “This is an example of the successful use of American leverage to produce a positive change in Bahrain’s policy and serves as a model for future trade negotiations,” AIPAC said in a statement after the vote. “The breakdown of these kinds of economic barriers can, hopefully, help lead to the development of important political relationships between Israel and the Arab world.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
