Sec. 2. Findings

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Congress finds the following: In May 2021, President Joseph R. Biden stated, the Palestinians and Israelis equally deserve to live safely and securely, and enjoy equal measures of freedom, prosperity and democracy . The United States has, under Democratic and Republican administrations since 2002, supported a two-state solution. On December 6, 2019, the House of Representatives passed House Resolution 326 on a bipartisan basis, expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that only the outcome of a two-state solution that enhances stability and security for Israel, Palestinians, and their neighbors can both ensure the state of Israel’s survival as a Jewish and democratic state and fulfill the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people for a state of their own and that a United States proposal to achieve a just, stable, and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should expressly endorse a two-state solution as its objective and discourage steps by either side that would put a peaceful end to the conflict further out of reach .

Democratic and Republican presidents have identified Israeli settlements as an obstacle to peace. President Ronald Reagan said, further settlement activity is in no way necessary for the security of Israel and only diminishes the confidence of the Arabs that a final outcome can be freely and fairly negotiated . In 2003, President George W. Bush stated, As progress is made towards peace, settlement activity in the occupied territories must end. . On April 21, 1978, State Department Legal Adviser Herbert J.

Hansell issued a legal opinion concluding that the establishment of the Israeli civilian settlements in the territories occupied by Israel is inconsistent with international law . Secretary of State Mike Pompeo repudiated the 1978 legal opinion on November 18, 2019. During the Trump Administration, Israel accelerated its advancement of settlement plans by more than 154 percent, as compared to the prior administration. During the final year of the Trump Administration, the Israeli Government demolished 273 homes belonging to Palestinian families in the West Bank, the highest number of demolitions since 2016.

As a result, 1,006 Palestinians, 519 of them minors, were displaced. The Arms Export Control Act places numerous conditions and restrictions on the assistance it authorizes, including a prohibition on the use of such assistance for purposes other than those for which [it has been] furnished without prior presidential consent and a requirement that sales agreements entered into after November 29, 1999 allow the United States to verify credible reports that assistance has been used for unauthorized purposes.

The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 also places conditions and restrictions on the aid it authorizes and mandates that international security assistance programs promote and advance human rights and avoid identification of the United States, through such programs, with governments which deny to their people internationally recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms, in violation of international law or in contravention of the policy of the United States . Dating back to the administration of President Dwight D.

Eisenhower, the United States has delineated explicitly authorized uses of the aid it provides to Israel. Congress passed and President George W. Bush signed into law the Fiscal Year 2003 Emergency Wartime Supplemental Appropriations Act ( Public Law 108–11 ), which authorized $9,000,000,000 in loan guarantees for Israel over 3 years and $1,000,000,000 in military grants. Public Law 108–11 stated, guarantees may be issued under this section only to support activities in the geographic areas which were subject to the administration of the Government of Israel before June 5, 1967 .

House Report 117–84, in explanation of the accompanying bill making appropriations for the Department of State, foreign operations, and related programs, for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2022, which passed in the House of Representatives on July 28, 2021, states, the Committee urges the Secretary of State to address in bilateral consultations with Israel the importance of ensuring that MOU-supported equipment is not used in any way that undermines the prospects of a negotiated two-state solution .

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Pub. L. 108-11

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Sec. 2

Findings

Pub. L.Pub. L. 108-11

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