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House Republicans urge Trump to immediately nominate an Abraham Accords ambassador

The lawmakers lambasted Biden for failing to nominate someone to fill the position, which was created in December 2023

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Bahrain Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Donald Trump, and United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan during the Abraham Accords signing ceremony at the White House on Sept. 15, 2020.

A group of 47 House Republicans led by Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) urged President-elect Donald Trump to immediately nominate an ambassador-rank special envoy for the Abraham Accords, a position that has been left empty since it was created by Congress in late 2023.

Lawler and Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) introduced legislation in 2023 to create a new ambassador-level position for the Abraham Accords, Negev Forum and Middle East regional normalization, which was incorporated into and passed into law through the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act in December 2023. 

But the position was left empty as normalization efforts became a secondary priority in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

In a letter to Trump on Thursday, the lawmakers said that they’re confident Trump will “prioritize” expanding normalization agreements between Israel and the Arab world in his second administration, and said that having a dedicated official leading those efforts would be “key to a cohesive, effective, and long-lasting normalization effort.”

The lawmakers said that the Biden administration’s failure to fill the slot — in spite of bipartisan pressure to do so — showed “clear indifference to the Abraham Accords,” which they described as “incomprehensible, bad policy, and after the NDAA’s passage in 2023, unlawful.”

“In light of President Biden’s shortcomings, we urge you to make this nomination an immediate priority,” the lawmakers continued. “We know expanding the Abraham Accords remains a key priority for your Administration and having a Presidential Envoy will be a key player in spearheading these efforts. We look forward to working with both you and the Presidential Envoy in the future to strengthen Israel’s role in the Middle East and reach long-lasting stability in the region.”

Lawler, in a statement, again condemned Biden, calling it “unacceptable” that he had not nominated an ambassador.

“This willful ignorance of a position designed to support our closest ally, Israel, in formalizing normalization agreements with its neighbors and other nations around the world speaks volumes about the Biden Administration,” Lawler said. “I am hopeful that President Trump will take swift action on day one to right this wrong and begin to work towards a lasting peace between Israel and its neighbors.” 

It’s not clear how responsibilities would be divided in the incoming Trump administration among Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East; Massad Boulos, Trump’s senior advisor for Arab and Middle East Affairs; and the prospective Abraham Accords ambassador.

Prior to the Oct. 7 attack and passage of the Lawler-Torres bill, the Biden administration had named former Ambassador Dan Shapiro as a senior advisor for regional integration in the State Department, filling a similar role to the ambassador post, without Senate confirmation. But Shapiro moved to the Defense Department in January 2024 amid the growing war in the Middle East, and the State Department did not announce a replacement for Shapiro.

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