US Congress moves to No State for Palestinians

"Additionally, the Republican Party, in a platform revision this summer, removed explicit references to two states. The Republican fund-raiser who helped engineer that change, Jeff Ballabon, told BuzzFeed News over the long weekend that now, within the GOP, “you have to justify the notion of a two-state solution.” That might not be true yet, but the sponsors of the resolution competing with Royce’s is a who’s who of the party’s anti-establishment right wing. They have scored impressive wins in recent years, not least of which is backing the winning candidate for president. While the resolution disapproves of the U.N. resolution and the Obama administration’s abstention, it does not refer to the two-state solution. “Two states” was omitted, a Ross spokeswoman said, because the resolution was more narrowly focused. “The resolution is a very narrow response to the U.N.’s vote, specifically condemning President Obama’s instruction to abstain and abandon our closest ally,” Joni Shockey told JTA. Whereas the Royce resolution emphasizes backing Israel in its quest for peace, the Ross resolution stresses the alliance, saying that Congress “affirms its commitment to the State of Israel as our loyal friend and strong ally in the Middle East.”"