US House passes bipartisan bill to appoint special envoy to advance Arab-Israeli Abraham Accords
“We are collaborating with countries in the region to widen and deepen the normalization of relations with Israel,” says Blinken
The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill 413-13 on Tuesday to establish a special U.S. envoy to advance the Abraham Accords between Israel and the Muslim world.
The former-U.S. Trump administration facilitated the four historic normalization agreements, between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan in 2020.
Bipartisan legislation specifies that the role of the new envoy is to boost existing Arab-Israeli agreements and take responsibility for “coordinating efforts across the US government and engaging diplomatically with foreign governments, nongovernmental organizations, and other stakeholders.”
An official from U.S. President Joe Biden’s government hinted that Congressional legislation was not necessary for advancing diplomatic relations between Israel and the Muslim Arab world.
“We’ve made clear from the beginning that this is a priority for us… We recognize that it’s a very popular issue and that Congress wants to get its slice of the pie, but these various efforts are not what’s going to move the needle,” the official told the Times of Israel.
“Nonetheless, we appreciate the initiative and look forward to working with Congress to advance this important issue,” the official added.
During his recent visit to Saudi Arabia, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed the Biden administration’s commitment to expanding the Abraham Accords.
“We are collaborating with countries in the region to widen and deepen the normalization of relations with Israel,” Blinken said.
Washington stated earlier that Saudi-Israeli normalization constitutes an important U.S. national security interest. However, pundits argue that a potential Saudi-Israeli diplomatic breakthrough will take time and is likely linked to the development of American-Saudi ties, as well as relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
