Israeli Annexation Non-Recognition Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8050 To prohibit United States Government recognition of the Israeli Government’s claim of sovereignty over the occupied West Bank, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUGUST 14, 2020 Ms. MCCOLLUM (for herself, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. POCAN, Ms. OMAR, and Mr. CARSON of Indiana) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs A BILL To prohibit United States Government recognition of the Israeli Government’s claim of sovereignty over the occu- pied West Bank, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Israeli Annexation 4 Non-Recognition Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 6 It is the sense of Congress that— 7 (1) unilateral annexation of any part of the oc- 8 cupied West Bank by the Government of Israel— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Sep 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8050.IH H8050 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8050 IH (A) is a flagrant violation of international 1 law and a prohibited act of aggression under 2 Article 2(4) of the UN Charter; 3 (B) is contrary to the values of the Amer- 4 ican people and the long-standing policy of the 5 United States to support and promote equality, 6 human rights, and dignity for both Palestinians 7 and Israelis; and 8 (C) undermines United States national se- 9 curity interests in the Middle East as well as 10 diplomatic efforts by the United States and the 11 international community to achieve a just and 12 lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinian 13 people; 14 (2) promoting human rights, human dignity, 15 and democratic rights for all Palestinians and 16 Israelis are foreign policy priorities of the United 17 States; 18 (3) the United States rejects any undemocratic 19 system or act of aggression in which Israel unilater- 20 ally exercises permanent rule over a Palestinian peo- 21 ple denied self-determination and human rights; and 22 (4) any annexation of the occupied West Bank 23 by the Government of Israel is condemned by Con- 24 gress as the illegal annexation of occupied territory 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Sep 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8050.IH H8050 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8050 IH and should not be recognized as legitimate by the 1 United States. 2 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION AGAINST UNITED STATES RECOGNI- 3 TION OF THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT’S CLAIM 4 OF SOVEREIGNTY OVER THE WEST BANK. 5 (a) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 6 United States not to recognize any claim by the Govern- 7 ment of Israel of sovereignty over any part of the occupied 8 West Bank including its airspace. 9 (b) PROHIBITION.—No Federal department or agen- 10 cy may take any action or extend any assistance in a man- 11 ner that extends or implies United States recognition of 12 such a claim of sovereignty in violation of international 13 humanitarian law or customary international law. 14 (c) WAIVER.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President may waive 16 the prohibition in subsection (b) on a case-by-case 17 basis beginning 30 days after the date on which the 18 President certifies to Congress that such waiver is 19 vital to the national security interests of the United 20 States. 21 (2) JOINT RESOLUTION OF DISAPPROVAL.—A 22 waiver certified pursuant to paragraph (1) shall not 23 take effect if, during the 30-day period described in 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Sep 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8050.IH H8050 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8050 IH paragraph (1), there is enacted a joint resolution 1 disapproving such waiver. 2 (d) FUNDING LIMITATION.—No Federal funds ap- 3 propriated or otherwise made available to the ‘‘Foreign 4 military financing program’’ account, or otherwise author- 5 ized to be appropriated or made available to carry out sec- 6 tion 23 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2763), 7 may be made available to deploy or support the deploy- 8 ment of personnel, training, services, lethal materials, 9 equipment, facilities, logistics, transportation, or any other 10 activity in territory in the West Bank unilaterally annexed 11 by Israel, or to facilitate or support the unilateral annex- 12 ation of such territory. 13 (e) CERTIFICATION.—Not later than September 30, 14 2021, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State shall 15 certify to the Committee on Appropriations of the House 16 of Representatives and the Committee on Appropriations 17 of the Senate one of the following with respect to the pre- 18 ceding fiscal year: 19 (1) A certification that none of the funds obli- 20 gated or expended in the previous fiscal year for as- 21 sistance to the Government of Israel have been used 22 by such Government to support personnel, training, 23 lethal materials, equipment, facilities, logistics, 24 transportation or any other activity that supports or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Sep 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8050.IH H8050 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8050 IH is associated with any of the activities prohibited 1 under subsection (d). 2 (2) A certification that funds obligated or ex- 3 pended in the previous fiscal year have supported or 4 been associated with an activity prohibited under 5 subsection (d), along with a report describing in de- 6 tail the amount of such funds used by the Govern- 7 ment of Israel in violation of such subsection and 8 each activity supported by such funds. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:26 Sep 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8050.IH H8050 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS