First Fruits of Congressional Interaction

Politico reports:

Tea party firebrand Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) plans to introduce a provocative measure in the House expressing congressional support for Israel’s right to annex Jewish settlements in the West Bank as the Palestinians move forward with a controversial request for a declaration of statehood at the United Nations.

...Walsh told POLITICO[.] “It’s clear that the United States needs to make a very strong statement. I would argue that the president should make this statement, but he’s not capable of making it. So, the House needs to make this statement, if the [Palestinian Authority] continues down this road of trying to get recognition of statehood, the U.S. will not stand for it. And we will respect Israel’s right to annex Judea and Samaria.”

...Walsh is moving forward with his resolution after meeting last month in Israel with Danny Danon, a deputy speaker of the Knesset and Likud Party member known for criticizing Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu from the right. Earlier this year, Danon introduced a bill that would annex all of “Area C,” a large portion of the West Bank that includes Jewish settlements and rural lands but would spare the largest Palestinian cities...Walsh, who said he’d been considering a similar measure before arriving in Israel in August, confirmed that he and Danon “bounced some ideas off each other” on the resolution...