A majority of House and Senate Democrats supported a resolution praising a key diplomatic achievement of the Trump administration.
Over the past month, 93 Senators and 372 House members—amounting to over 90 percent of the Senate and 85 percent of the House—cosponsored legislation supporting the signing of the Abraham Accords, a series of peace agreements between the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Israel brokered by the Trump administration. Both the Senate and House resolutions affirm the desire for a peaceful solution to issues between Israel and Palestinians, and encourage other Gulf countries to consider fully normalizing relations with Jerusalem.
The chief cosponsors of the House bill include prominent Republicans and Democrats alike, including Reps. Michael McCaul (R., Texas), Lee Zeldin (R., N.Y.), Eliot Engel (D., N.Y.), and Max Rose (D., N.Y.).
"I am proud to co-lead this bipartisan resolution with Chairman Engel recognizing these historic accomplishments," McCaul said in September. "The recent diplomatic agreements between Israel and UAE and Israel and Bahrain are transformational developments for the Middle East. We all agree that building relationships between our partners is a major win for U.S. national interests."
Zeldin added his own praise for the peace agreements. "The United States and world are safer when America effectively leads on the world stage, and these historic agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain forward the cause of peace and security in the Middle East and represent real progress in this centuries-long mission," he said.
Since the September signing of the Abraham Accords, rapid normalization between Israel and the UAE has occurred. This week, the first commercial flight from the UAE to Israel landed in Tel Aviv. Since September, Washington and Jerusalem have brokered separate deals opening the door to varying degrees of diplomatic normalization with Sudan, Kosovo, and Serbia, with the end goal of a Saudi Arabian-Israeli peace deal in mind.
When initial reports of the accords broke, the media establishment consistently downplayed the monumental nature of the agreements, ignoring the accords in September to cover other issues. Many of Barack Obama’s top foreign-policy advisers consistently spoke against the Trump administration’s Middle East policy, with some previously considering a peace deal between Gulf countries and Israel impossible.
As a result of the accords, a Norwegian lawmaker nominated President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.