Congress: 104 · Status: active · Israel/Palestine classification: neutral
Data (JSON) — machine-readable record of this bill (identifiers, sponsor, classification, actions, and the member-by-member vote breakdown).
Official record on Congress.gov — full text, actions, and cosponsor history for S 1064.
Sponsor: Helms, Jesse (R-NC)
Middle East Peace Facilitation Act of 1995 - Declares the sense of the Congress specifying steps the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) must take to demonstrate an irrevocable denunciation of terrorism and ensure a peaceful settlement of the Middle East dispute. Authorizes the President to suspend for up to six months at a time specified provisions of law which prohibit foreign and United Nations assistance to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the receipt or expenditure of PLO funds, and PLO membership in the International Monetary Fund, upon certification to specified congressional committees that: (1) such waiver is in the national interest; (2) the PLO continues to abide by commitments made in letters to Israel and the Foreign Minister of Norway and under the Declaration of Principles signed in September 1993; and (3) specified funds provided under this Act and other Acts have been used for the purposes for which they were intended. Prohibits the provision of such assistance until the President certifies to the Congress that: (1) the Palestinian Council has disavowed the articles of the Palestine National Covenant which calls for Israel's destruction; (2) the PLO has exercised its authority to prosecute and imprison terrorists; and (3) it has not provided support for acts of terrorism against Israel.
This bill allows the President to temporarily lift congressionally imposed restrictions on US aid to the PLO (for up to six months at a time) if he certifies the PLO is honoring its commitments to Israel and the 1993 Declaration of Principles. However, aid cannot flow unless the Palestinian Council removes from the Palestine National Covenant its language calling for Israel's destruction, and the PLO actively prosecutes terrorists and stops supporting attacks on Israel.
The bill conditions all US-Palestinian assistance on PLO compliance with Israel-centered security requirements and covenant amendments, making Palestinian aid contingent on pro-Israel security benchmarks. This reflects a 1990s Congressional stance that tied normalization of US-PLO relations to Palestinian concessions on terrorism and territorial claims rather than mutual commitments.