The bill includes the $3.3 billion in US security assistance to Israel agreed to in the 2016 Memorandum of Understanding.
It also includes $50 million under the Economic Support Fund for the Nita M. Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Act, “to continue critically needed people-to-people programming and joint economic partnerships between Israelis and Palestinians.”
An additional amount of $2 million would assist USAID-Israel international development cooperation “to support local solutions to address sustainability challenges relating to water resources, agriculture and energy storage.”
An amount of $6 million for the Middle East Regional Cooperation program – to facilitate collaborative research between Israeli and Arab scientists – is also included in the bill.
Other measures include global humanitarian aid “to confront the current COVID-19 pandemic and prevent future pandemics.”
“President [Joe] Biden has made it clear that America is back,” Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-Connecticut, 3rd District) said in a statement.“The State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs funding bill puts those words into action," she said. "It makes America stronger at home and respected again in the world. It restores American leadership by responding to global health threats, including the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. And it addresses urgent humanitarian needs while confronting the climate crisis."
The Appropriations Committee approved the bill earlier this month, including $225m. under the Economic Support Fund for humanitarian and development assistance for the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza. The bill would also provide $1.6b. in assistance for Jordan, including $1.2b. under the Economic Support Fund and $425m. under the Foreign Military Financing Program.
“The committee notes the importance of the relationship with the Kingdom of Jordan and the strong leadership that Jordan continues to play in advancing peace and stability in the region,” the accompanying report reads.
“This bill makes critical investments in global health and humanitarian needs, provides strong funding to address the climate crisis and advances gender equity,” State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-California 13th) said in a statement.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) released a statement praising the bill. “Importantly, the legislation provides the full $3.3 billion in US security assistance to Israel, as agreed to in the 2016 Memorandum of Understanding. This critical funding, with no added political conditions, reflects the strong bipartisan support for Israel’s security in Congress and the Biden Administration.”
The progressive group J Street released a statement as well, saying the organization “applauds the House of Representatives’ passage of a State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs appropriations bill that ensures robust assistance to Israel and the Palestinian people, as well as critical US funding for multilateral organizations and diplomacy worldwide.
“We especially welcome new provisions in the legislation and its accompanying report that are an important first step toward ensuring that equipment purchased with US Foreign Military Financing is used in a manner consistent with US law and national security policies, including specifying that items supplied pursuant to the US-Israel Memorandum of Understanding on security assistance may not be used in any way that undermines the prospects of a negotiated two-state solution,” J Street said in a statement.