Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan display their copies of signed agreements while US President Donald Trump looks on, at the signing ceremony of the Abraham Accords, at the White House in Washington, DC, Sept. 15, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Tom Brenner.

In a bipartisan initiative to mark the normalization agreements inked on Tuesday at the White House between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, four members of Congress have introduced legislation to support the historic agreement.

A statement from the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) on Thursday said its chairman, Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), and its ranking member, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), along with Reps. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) and Max Rose (D-NY), introduced legislation this week to promote the “sustainability” of the accords, as well as firm backing for future peace deals between Israel and other Arab and Muslim countries.

“Peace between Israel and its neighbors has long-standing bipartisan support in Congress and among the American people, and I am hopeful that these agreements can pave the way for future peace and normalization between Israel and other Arab and Muslim countries,” Engel said.

McCaul described the accords as “transformational developments for the Middle East.”

“We all agree that building relationships between our partners is a major win for US national interests,” he said.

Zeldin expressed the hope that the accords would “lead the way for other regional powers to do the same and push back on Iranian aggression in the region and around the world.”

Rose, meanwhile, said he was keen to continue bipartisan support for peace in the Middle East.

“I hope that this signals the beginning of a more secure, prosperous, and tolerant Middle East, and I look forward to working with my colleagues across the aisle to fulfill the aspirations of these Accords,” the freshman congressman said.

According to the HFAC statement, the proposed resolution “supports the normalization agreements; calls for further people-to-people diplomacy to ensure the sustainability of these agreements; calls on other Arab and Muslim states to support normalization and peace with Israel; reiterates the House’s support for US law related to Israel’s qualitative military edge; and reaffirms its strong support for a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict resulting in two states — a democratic Jewish State of Israel, and a viable, democratic Palestinian state — living side-by-side in peace, security, and mutual recognition.”