U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., is teaming up again with U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to take on the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) due to its support of terrorism and opposition to Israel.
This week, Ros-Lehtinen, the chairwoman of the House Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee, and Cruz brought out the “PLO Accountability Act.” The proposal would shut down the PLO’s office in Washington, D.C., which has been open since the Oslo Accords in 1994 unless it stops backing terrorism and anti-Israeli and anti-Semitism.
Ros-Lehtinen and Cruz released a joint statement on Thursday making their case for their proposal.
“Yesterday at the White House, Abu Mazen engaged in his usual, deceptive, diplomatic double speak to cover up for the Palestinians' relentless and unrepentant hostility toward our close ally Israel,” they said. “It was only three days ago as Israel celebrated its 69th Independence Day that the Palestinians supported another shameful UNESCO resolution against Israel that served as the latest example of their effort to delegitimize the Jewish State in international forums. The Palestinian leadership refuses to recognize Israel as a Jewish State within any borders, engages in rampant incitement and glorification of terrorism, and continues the heinous practice of incentivizing more terrorism by providing hundreds of millions annually in salaries and benefits to terrorists and their families - including those who have murdered both Israeli and American citizens. The reward is tied to the length of the jail sentence so the more brutal the attack the higher the payment.
“It has been abundantly clear that the Palestinians have failed to live up to their obligations and commitments, yet the U.S. continues to reward them by providing assistance and allowing the PLO office in our nation’s capital to remain open,” Ros-Lehtinen and Cruz added. “The U.S. must send a strong message that there will be consequences for these actions by, among other things, closing down the PLO office in Washington, D.C., and utilizing the range of tools available under current U.S. law. It is long past time for the U.S. to hold the Palestinian leadership accountable for its intolerable behavior, and reiterate our steadfast support for Israel.”
Ros-Lehtinen, who announced at the start of the week that she would not run again in 2018, was joined by conservatives U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-NC, and U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-SC, in championing the bill in the House.
This is not the first time Ros-Lehtinen and Cruz have paired up on this issue and other Middle Eastern matters. They brought out a similar proposal in early 2016 when Cruz was running for the Republican presidential nomination. Back in October, Cruz and Ros-Lehtinen worked together to take on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), protesting a UNESCO proposal playing up Jerusalem’s Muslim history while playing down its Christian and Jewish heritage.
