WASHINGTON–The House of Representatives passed a bipartisan bill on June 13 to create a new envoy position to deal with the Abraham Accords—the normalization agreements between Israel and, so far, four Mideast and Northern African countries.
Voting against the bill were Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (D-Ill.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Summer Lee (D-Pa.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), Rich McCormick (R-Ga.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.). Eight members did not vote.
The Special Envoy for the Abraham Accords is a State Department position, reporting to the Secretary of State. The ambassador-level role would be the primary adviser to, and coordinate efforts across, the United States government relating to expanding and strengthening the Abraham Accords. Appointed by the president, the envoy would also need Senate confirmation.
The special envoy, according to the bill, would be responsible for “encouraging countries without diplomatic relations with Israel to establish formal diplomatic, economic, security, and people-to-people ties” and “seeking to expand and strengthen existing relationships between Israel and Muslim-majority countries, including those outside the geographic scope of the Near Eastern Affairs Bureau of the Department of State, to ensure that all parties reap tangible security and economic benefits for their citizens.”
The Abraham Accords were brokered under the Trump administration in 2020 as the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan normalized ties with Israel. It was the first peace agreement between Israel and other countries in 25 years. The name of the accords is based off the Abrahamic faiths of the Middle East and North Africa: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The Biden administration has pledged to build off the accords.
Moreover, the special envoy would be responsible for “providing diplomatic support for Israel’s integration into cooperative efforts related to regional security” and for “coordinating lines of effort across the United States Government, including the regional and functional bureaus within the Department of State, and conducting appropriate diplomatic engagement with foreign governments, nongovernmental organizations, and other stakeholders determined appropriate by the Special Envoy in order to expand and strengthen the Abraham Accords,” according to the bill.
Finally, the bill would require the first special envoy, one year after confirmation, to submit an unclassified report to the House Foreign Affairs and Appropriations Committees and the Senate Foreign Relations and Appropriations Committees “describing all United States efforts to expand the Abraham Accords, including specific diplomatic engagements and status of efforts with respect to specific countries.” Such a report would be required annually thereafter.
Foreign policy expert Irina Tsukerman applauded the legislation.
“It is a belated but welcome positive gesture in support of the Abraham Accords implementation and a sign that Congress is fully committed to supporting and expanding the scope and the scale of this major diplomatic achievement,” she told The Epoch Times on June 12.
“Congressional support and involvement is vital in ensuring the lasting nature of the Abraham Accords; in the past, Congressional support for treaties and major diplomatic achievements was a guarantee of the U.S. buy-in and commitment regardless of the administration in power, underscoring the bipartisan nature of such initiatives and their long-lasting importance for the U.S. interests, in this case in Israel’s growing relations with its neighbors, normalization with [Middle East and North Africa] countries, and Middle East security, prosperity, peace, and stability,” she continued.
Nonetheless, said Tsukerman, what ultimately matters is who will be in the special envoy role.
“We should not also overestimate the importance of any one political position. Any position in the State Department is only as useful as the person filling it and as active as the support the administration gives it to fulfill its functions,” she said.
“Most importantly, the larger policy of the U.S. and its response to regional developments are essential to the success of the Abraham Accords framework.”
