Congress: 114 · Status: active · Israel/Palestine classification: pro-Israel
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 2537.
Sponsor: Cruz, Ted (R-Texas)
PLO Accountability Act This bill expresses the sense of Congress concerning the participation of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the peace process and adherence to diplomatic agreements with Israel, PA support for an International Criminal Court investigation of Israel, and the presence of a PLO office in Washington, DC. The Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987 is amended to authorize the President to waive for up to six months the prohibition against establishment or maintenance of a PLO office, headquarters, premises, or other facilities within U.S. jurisdiction, if the President certifies to Congress that the Palestinians have entered into a final negotiated peace agreement with, and have ceased hostilities against, Israel or that: the Palestinians have not, on or after April 1, 2015, obtained state standing in the United Nations or any specialized agency thereof outside an agreement negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians; the Palestinians have officially ceased to be members of the ICC and have withdrawn from the Rome Statute; any ICC investigation against Israel initiated by, or on behalf of, the Palestinians has been withdrawn and terminated; the PLO and the PA no longer provide financial awards or salaries to Palestinians imprisoned in Israel for terrorist attacks, or to their families; and the PLO and the PA no longer engage in a pattern of incitement against the United States or Israel.
This bill amends federal law to let the President temporarily allow a PLO office in Washington, DC only if he certifies that Palestinians have either reached a final peace deal with Israel, or meet five conditions: they don't seek new UN statehood recognition outside Israeli-negotiated talks, they withdraw from the International Criminal Court and end any ICC investigation of Israel, they stop paying salaries to Palestinians imprisoned in Israel for attacks, and they stop inciting against the US or Israel.
This legislation conditions PLO diplomatic presence in the US on Palestinian concessions regarding ICC accountability measures and prisoner support—effectively linking Palestinian access to the US political process to abandoning international legal avenues. It reflects Congress's view on what Palestinian governance and ICC participation should look like as a precondition for normalized relations.