Few issues today have broad, bipartisan support in Washington. But this week, the overwhelming majority of Congress – 401 Democrats and Republicans – voted for a bipartisan resolution standing with Israel and celebrating 75 years of the U.S.-Israel relationship.
As Israelis commemorated their Memorial Day and Independence Day, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries led a congressional delegation to Israel to participate in the occasion. Speaker Kevin McCarthy will lead another delegation of members next week, where he will become the second Speaker in U.S. history to address the Israeli Knesset. Click here to watch a short video of members of Congress congratulating Israel on its 75th.
Please also take a moment to watch and share the video below celebrating Israel's 75th birthday. Thank you for working with AIPAC to ensure America’s support for Israel is unwavering – today and for the next 75 years to come!
AIPAC Hosts Strategic Dialogue with Abraham Accords Countries, Congressional Leaders
On Thursday, AIPAC and its charitable organization, the American Israel Education Foundation, hosted a second interparliamentary strategic dialogue meeting with the Congressional Abraham Accords Caucus, part of a series of government-to-government meetings to improve regional cooperation and expand peace in the Middle East.
Leaders in Congress: Senators James Lankford and Jacky Rosen, and Congressman Brad Schneider, spoke at the event and discussed efforts on Capitol Hill to build upon the historic peace accords.
World leaders: Joining the American and Israeli delegations were representatives from Austria, Hungary, Portugal, Canada, Bahrain, the UAE, Germany, Singapore, Japan, Cyprus, Greece, the U.K., Serbia, France, Estonia and Lithuania.
AIPAC's role: By facilitating these interparliamentary exchanges, AIPAC helps promote and expand partnerships between America, Israel, and our allies.
The Abraham Accords have transformed the Middle East, promoting peace, creating new economic opportunities, and enhancing regional security. A more stable and prosperous Middle East opens the door to a brighter future for Israelis and Arabs alike.
Congress Considering Bipartisan MAHSA Act to Sanction Iran
This week, the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted to advance the bipartisan MAHSA Act, intended to impose additional sanctions on the Iranian regime in response to its continued violation of basic human rights.
Go deeper: The legislation would urge the Biden administration to impose sanctions on select individuals and entities at the highest levels of the Iranian regime, including the Ayatollah Khamenei and Iranian President Raisi.
AIPAC's view: Increasing the economic pressure on the Iranian regime is necessary to push back against the regime's abuse of human rights and continued pursuit of nuclear weapons.
Context: The legislation is named after Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian woman murdered by Iran's morality police.
Her death sparked a series of anti-regime protests across Iran.
Iranian Hackers Targeted U.S. Election Website in 2020
On Monday, the U.S. military revealed that an Iranian hacking group had targeted a local government website that was to report 2020 election results.
Fortunately, cybersecurity personnel were able to disrupt the attack before it took place.
Context: This was just one in a series of Iranian-backed cyberattacks targeting America and our allies.
Iran was also able to breach nine U.S. government agencies by hacking software firms SolarWinds and Microsoft.
Video of the week:
Click to view this video celebrating Israel's 75th birthday on AIPAC's Instagram.
The mission of AIPAC is to encourage and persuade the U.S. government to enact specific policies that create a strong, enduring and mutually beneficial relationship with our ally Israel.
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