WASHINGTON (JTA) — The influential Republican Study Committee is asking its members to back a proposed resolution that would recognize an Israeli annexation of the West Bank in the event of the Palestinian statehood push.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL), comes in the wake of proposed legislation in the Knesset that would annex settlements should the Palestinians press ahead with their statehood push later this month at the United Nations.
The office of the RSC, the conservative GOP caucus that encompasses more than half of the Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, circulated the nonbinding resolution among its members on Thursday, asking for their support.
The resolution "supports Israel’s right to annex Judea and Samaria in the event that the Palestinian Authority continues to press for unilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood at the United Nations."
Danny Danon, a deputy Knesset speaker belonging to the governing Likud Party, praised the initiative and said it was modeled on the legislation he proposed on settlement annexation.
