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The measure passed on Friday faced opposition from the left. Representative Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American, said she opposed separate states, instead favoring one state where Israelis and Palestinians would be equal.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a symbolic resolution on Friday backing a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, following initiatives from President Donald Trump heavily favoring the Jewish state.
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The resolution, introduced by Democrat Alan Lowenthal in April aimed to express "sense of the House of Representatives that only a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can ensure Israel's survival as a secure Jewish and democratic state and fulfill the legitimate aspirations for a Palestinian state," according to the bill.
It also reaffirms continued U.S. military aid to Israel, reported Haaretz.
The Democratic-led House voted 226 to 188, largely along party lines, for a non-binding resolution saying that only a two-state solution can both ensure Israel's survival as a Jewish state and fulfill the Palestinians' "legitimate aspirations" for their own state.
Four Democrats voted against the resolution: Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Occasion-Cortez and Ayanna Presley. Five Republicans voted in favor.
Since he became president in January 2017, the Republican Trump has been condemned by Palestinian and some Arab states' leaders for reversing long-held U.S. policies to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital in 2017, move the U.S. embassy to the city in 2018 and cut U.S. aid to Palestinians.
In March 2019, Trump recognized Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in 1967. And last month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington would no longer consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be illegal.
Such measures, which help strengthen support for Trump from his conservative evangelical Christian political base, have fueled questions about whether his administration will abandon the idea of a "two-state solution," with an independent Palestinian state living side-by-side with Israel.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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