Israeli Annexation Non-Recognition Act would ban official U.S. recognition of Israel’s claimed ownership of the West Bank region
The Trump Administration officially recognized Israeli’s annexation last year, reversing a four-decade policy.
Context
The West Bank is a Middle Eastern territory bordered by two nations: Jordan and Israel. Jordan captured the territory in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, which began at the moment of Israel’s formal creation. Then Jordan formally annexed it (meaning they added it as part of their own country) in 1950. But Israel occupied it in 1967 during the Six-Day War, and has claimed ownership of the land ever since.
Dispute over who should control the territory has proven one of the biggest stumbling blocks for decades in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Israel claims the land is rightfully theirs, both because they won it militarily and because the territory is home to some of the most holy sites in Judaism, such as the Cave of the Patriarchs and Rachel’s Tomb. Others have criticized the annexation as a possible violation of international law.
They also note that although Israel was created as a homeland for the Jewish people, the West Bank has a large majority Palestinian population opposed to Israeli rule and who were living there before Israel was created. While approximately 2.9 million people live in the West Bank, about 418,600 are Israeli (mostly Jewish) settlers, while an estimated 2.5 to 3 million are Palestinian.
In November 2019, the Trump State Department announced that it would recognize existing Israeli settlements in the West Bank as lawful, reversing four decades of State Department policy across both Democratic and Republican administrations. In April 2020, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a plan to unilaterally annex even more parts of the West Bank. The State Department said that if Israel went through with its plan, the U.S. would officially recognize it as legitimate.
However, in August 2020, Netanyahu announced he had “suspended” the plan, as part of a new peace deal between Israel and the neighboring United Arab Emirates. Still, he noted that the annexation proposal was still not off the table for the future.
What the bill does
The Israeli Annexation Non-Recognition Act would ban the U.S. from formally recognizing any Israel annexation of West Bank lands — past, present, or future.
It was introduced in the House on August 14 as bill number H.R. 8050, by Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN4).
What supporters say
Supporters argue that Israel’s annexation violates international law, has harmed millions of Palestinians living there, and is perhaps the biggest obstacle to a true all-encompassing peace deal for the region.
“I want Palestinians and Israelis to have their human rights respected, their right to self-determination realized, and a future with peace, security, equality, and justice,” Rep. McCollum said in a press release. “Annexation is antithetical to these goals and will fuel instability, injustice, and an abhorrent system of apartheid. This is an intolerable outcome for Palestinians, Israelis, and Americans.”
“I reject Israeli annexation. I condemn annexation,” Rep. McCollum continued. “And I will work to ensure the U.S. does not support, defend, or legitimize any plan to illegally annex Palestinian lands.”
What opponents say
Opponents counter that the lands rightfully belong to Israel, and that prior administrations have erred in not recognizing this formally.
“We are prepared to recognize Israeli actions to extend Israeli sovereignty and the application of Israeli law to areas of the West Bank that the vision foresees as being part of the State of Israel,” a State Department spokesperson told the Times of Israel.
The move would be “in the context of the Government of Israel agreeing to negotiate with the Palestinians along the lines set forth in President Trump’s vision,” referring to the administration’s Middle East peace plan released in January, which Israel supports but the Palestinians currently don’t.
The administration framed Israeli annexation as actually being good for the Palestinians. “The annexation would be in the context of an offer to the Palestinians to achieve statehood based upon specific terms, conditions, territorial dimensions and generous economic support. This is an unprecedented and highly beneficial opportunity for the Palestinians,” the spokesperson added.
Odds of passage
The bill has attracted 11 cosponsors, all Democrats. It awaits a potential vote in the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Odds of passage are low in the Republican-controlled Senate.
This article was written by GovTrack Insider staff writer Jesse Rifkin.
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