Solidarity with Israel Act

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to add Senator Mitch McConnell from Kentucky and Senator Cornyn from Texas as cosponsors on S. 1595, the Solidarity with Israel Act.

Madam President, I encourage all Senators to get on board with that bill. It is time to send messages that the U.N. will understand.

Madam President, it appears the leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, is going to request that the United Nations recognize Palestine as a member state. This action will create a major, unnecessary, and avoidable obstacle for peace. It is quite simply intolerable.

For that reason, yesterday I, along with 15 of my colleagues, including my colleague and friend from Kentucky, the Republican leader, introduced S. 1595, the Solidarity with Israel Act. Should the United Nations recognize a Palestinian state, this legislation would terminate the U.S. funding for the U.N.

I recognize that the consequences for recognizing a Palestinian state are severe, but they are appropriate.

Recognition of a Palestinian state at this point would undermine the peace process, and some have even questioned its legality. It would be a deeply irresponsible action that brings into further doubt the legitimacy of the United Nations as a good-faith actor in securing a more peaceful, more free, and more democratic world.

As I, and many of my colleagues have repeatedly stated on the floor of the Senate, the sole means to create a lasting and enduring peace between Israel and the Palestinians is through direct negotiations. By attempting an end run around these negotiations--and make no mistake, that is the aspiration of this Palestinian endeavor--the only result would be to delay the critical decisions which must be made to obtain a durable peace.

What is required is leadership--real leadership--to impress upon the Palestinians and the world community that if the United Nations capitulates and changes Palestine's status before a comprehensive peace agreement is reached, there will be consequences. Unfortunately, President Obama, in his speech to the United Nations yesterday, failed to provide that leadership and to take control of this quickly deteriorating situation.

Accordingly, yesterday, I and my colleagues introduced the Solidarity with Israel Act. The United States can and should exercise its Security Council veto if the Palestinians make good on their threat to attempt to change their U.N. status. However, the use of our veto power might not be enough to stop this subterfuge.

There are two methods by which the Palestinians could attempt to change their United Nations status. The first is to have the Security Council recommend to the General Assembly that Palestine become a member nation of the United Nations. But in the Security Council, the United States can veto a proposed change. However, the Palestinians also have another means to alter their status. They could petition the General Assembly directly--where the United States does not have a veto--and seek an upgrade from their current position as a permanent observer entity to a nonobserver state. If this occurs, the Palestinians will be in a much better position to manipulate U.N.- affiliated agencies, such as the International Criminal Court.

It should go without saying, but I will remind this body that the prospect of Palestinians bringing actions against Israel's leaders and military forces for defending our sovereign ally's right to exist is completely unacceptable.

We should expect more from the United Nations, but in spite of its sweeping statements in support of individual rights and peace, it has a mixed record at best when it comes to the treatment of Israel, a liberal democracy. The low point of its long and tarnished history on this subject was the General Assembly's contemptible 1975 resolution equating Zionism with racism. A General Assembly upgrade of the Palestinians to nonobserver statehood status would be another in a long line of hostile acts toward Israel and another hindrance to the peace prospect and process.

Deterring this outcome is the primary objective of the Solidarity with Israel Act. Israel is a friend and ally of the United States. It is a beacon of democracy and liberality in a part of the world that is too frequently lacking in both. Although the Palestinians have officially recognized Israel's right to exist, their rhetoric continues to bring the strength of this commitment into question.

Therefore, we cannot sit passively while the United Nations undermines Israel. Simply put, if the United Nations votes to harm our trusted ally by changing Palestine's U.N. status, this legislation would require termination of U.S. funding of the United Nations until a comprehensive peace agreement is reached with Israel.

The message of our legislation is also simple. The time for these types of games has ended. We will not stand by and allow a political spectacle to be created which only maligns our ally. The Solidarity with Israel Act seeks to deter those who would engage in false charades and redirect the international community toward promoting the only means to truly achieve a lasting peace: direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

It is my earnest hope that even greater numbers of Members will join us in this cause. I think this is an important issue, and I hope we can get every Member of this community, of this Senate, to join with us in this particular cause.