Dear A.,

AIPAC hosted an unprecedented event this week to help strengthen the Abraham Accords.

Members of Congress and officials from 16 countries participated in an AIPAC initiative — the Abraham Accords Interparliamentary Strategic Dialogue — to promote multinational projects related to the peace agreements.

“We should find as many paths to peace as possible and explore every opportunity for a prosperous future,” Senator James Lankford (R-OK) said. “I am grateful to AIPAC for hosting such a vital conversation as we continue to make remarkable moments of history to come together in peace."

Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) said, “This meeting provided an opportunity for parliamentarians from around the world to discuss how we can collaborate to build upon these Accords to strengthen existing partnerships and develop new ones.”

This event highlights the central role AIPAC plays in promoting and advancing the Abraham Accords. 

I encourage you to read this Jewish Insider article covering this event.

See below for more stories we are following — including the House passing key AIPAC-backed provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act.

This week, the House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act for 2023, setting the year’s funding levels for U.S. military and defense spending.

AIPAC lobbied for the inclusion of several critical provisions to expand U.S.-Israel cooperation, in the following areas:

Missile Defense: The bill authorizes $500 million for joint U.S.-Israel missile defense programs, including Iron Dome. 

• This funding is vital to ensuring Israel can defend itself from the rocket and missile threats posed by Iran and its terror proxies. 

Countering Iranian Drones: The bill authorizes $40 million for U.S.-Israel counter-drone cooperation — a significant increase from last year. 

• This funding will help counter the Iranian drone threat — a threat we are seeing deployed with deadly impact as Russia uses Iranian drones to target Ukrainian civilians. 

Israeli-Arab Cooperation: The bill includes the bipartisan DEFEND Act, which promotes regional missile defense cooperation between the U.S., Israel and its Arab partners. 

Iran’s Nuclear Program: The bill ensures that Congress will be informed through regular reports about Iran’s dangerous nuclear development and escalations. 

These provisions are crucial to ensuring Israel has the means to defend itself, by itself, and that the U.S. and Israel can continue to work closely to meet the defense challenges facing both nations. 

This week, Israeli President Isaac Herzog took a historic trip to Bahrain and the UAE, while an Israeli delegation traveled to Morocco for a summit with six Arab nations. 

In Bahrain: Bahraini King Al Khalifa greeted President Herzog in Manama for an official welcome ceremony, where Bahrain’s military band played Israel’s national anthem. See the full video of this powerful moment below.

• This was the first-ever visit by an Israeli head of state to Bahrain.

In the UAE: President Herzog was greeted by UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi and attended the first "Abu Dhabi Space Debate" with the Emirati foreign minister.

In Morocco: Experts from Israel and six Arab countries convened in Morocco for the N7 conference, created last year to broaden and deepen normalization between Israelis and Arabs. 

• The N7 includes Israel, the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, Egypt and Jordan. 
   
• This year, the conference will focus on education, coexistence and people-to-people ties.

The bottom line: The Abraham Accords have made clear that engaging with Israel brings remarkable opportunities for peace, progress and a brighter future.

Read more

The Iranian regime continues to violently crack down on peaceful protesters, who have been in the streets demanding basic human rights across Iran for over two months. 

• At least 450 people, including 63 children, have been killed and over 18,000 have been injured and arrested, according to reports.
   
• The regime has also begun issuing death sentences to protesters.

The latest: On Wednesday, House and Senate committees approved bipartisan resolutions reaffirming the United States’ support for the Iranian protesters. 

• The resolutions also condemn the Iranian security forces for their brutal response.

Meanwhile: On Tuesday, an Iranian patrol boat harassed U.S. Navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz. 

• CENTCOM spokesman Col. Joe Buccino said, “This dangerous action in international waters is indicative of Iran’s destabilizing activity across the Middle East.” 
   
• Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz recently told an international delegation of defense officials that Iran has conducted at least 16 separate attacks on international vessels in the Gulf and Red Sea in the past five years. 
   

Go deeper: The Biden administration imposed a series of sanctions against individuals and companies providing financial services and weapons to Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed terror organization. 
 

• The administration also sanctioned a business network helping the IRGC, Iran's terror army, illegally sell hundreds of millions of dollars of Iranian oil.

TAKE ACTION: Urge your senators to cut off the cash flow to Iran and pass the Stop Iranian Drones Act.
 

This week, a bipartisan group of 49 House members urged U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield to push for cutting American funding to the U.N. in order to end its anti-Israel Commission.

Background: Last May, the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) established an unprecedented, open-ended Commission of Inquiry (COI) to permanently target Israel.

• The COI’s latest report outrageously dismissed Palestinian terror organizations, shamelessly attacked Israel's legitimacy and advocated for punitive action against the Jewish state.

The bipartisan House letter represents yet another expression of bipartisan opposition to the UNHRC’s biased, anti-Israel COI.

• The letter, led by Reps. Dean Phillips and Brian Fitzpatrick, was signed by 26 Democrats and 23 Republicans.

From the letter: 

• “Respect for human rights is a core American value, and an ideal to which all international actors must be held accountable."
   
• "The U.N. Commission of Inquiry abjectly fails to meet [international norms]."
   
• "We stand ready to assist you in any way in defending our democratic ally, Israel.”

TAKE ACTION: Urge your members of Congress to pass the bipartisan COI Elimination Act that seeks to end the COI and withhold U.S. funding from the anti-Israel commission.