S.Res 410: Calling on the President to recognize a demilitarized State of Palestine as consistent with international law and the principles of a two-state solution, alongside a secure State of Israel.
S.Res 410 was introduced on September 18, 2025 by Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR). It is currently pending before the Senate Foreign Relations committee.
Related legislation:
Bill Summary: S.Res. 410 is a non-binding resolution “calling on the President to recognize a demilitarized State of Palestine, as consistent with international law and the principles of a two-state solution.” The resolution grounds its position in historical precedents, such as UN Resolutions 181 and 242, and the long-standing bipartisan U.S. policy of support for a two-state solution. It reaffirms that a mutually recognized two-state solution must provide for Israeli security and the Palestinian people's right to self-determination. The resolution urges the PA to follow through on commitments made to European partners to hold elections in 2026 and continue implementing reforms to ensure democratic legitimacy. It acknowledges the willingness of Arab countries to normalize relations with Israel if there is a clear pathway towards Palestinian Statehood.
The resolution also acknowledges that the current trajectory of settlement expansion, annexation, rejection of Palestinian statehood, and ongoing acts of terrorism is incompatible with peace and must end. It addresses the immediate crisis by calling on Hamas to release all hostages and lay down its arms, while calling on Israel to take immediate steps to end the war in Gaza and surge humanitarian aid.
Context: S. Res. 410 coincides with the decision by multiple U.S. allies and partners to recognize Palestinian Statehood at the United Nations General Assembly, and represents an important signal that there is significant U.S. political support for recognition despite the efforts of the Trump Administration to quash such moves. S. res 410 does seek to address a core strategic flaw in decades of U.S. Middle East policy: the assumption that regional peace can be achieved while making recognition of Palestinian statehood subject to Israel’s timetable. Israel’s post-1967 occupation of Palestinian territory has led directly to the current conditions, resulting in fragmented territories in the West Bank as Palestinian civilians are displaced from their homes into isolated communities, severe restrictions on trade and movement leading to inhumane qualities of life, and a lack of self determination and political rights where extremists groups can grow. This environment, created by increasingly extreme Israeli political leaders, makes it impossible for a viable, independent Palestinian economy to emerge, fueling a cycle of aid dependency and hopelessness that breeds instability. Unconditional U.S. support for Israel, in turn, acts as the single largest barrier to the broader American goal of regional economic integration. Any economic and security partnerships between Israel and its Arab neighbors will remain fragile and incomplete as long as the Palestinian issue remains a source of regional volatility. S. Res. 410 flips the existing, failed, approach on its head by acknowledging that Palestinian statehood is not an objective of a just and lasting peace, but a necessary precondition for it.
Regrettably, however, S. Res 410 would create an exception that would redefine the universal right of self determination under the U.N. Charter defense of all states by conditioning Palestinian self-determination on the condition a Palestinian state be demilitarization. As a policy matter, the Palestinian Authority has indicated its willingness to proceed with such a condition. However, the conditioning of self-determination upon any unique limitation goes against the spirit of international law, and sets a disturbing precedent for other potential aspirants to Statehood. For instance, would the U.S. be willing to countenance a Chinese conditionality in which Taiwanese statehood was reliant on demilitarization?
American Values Analysis: President Ronald Reagan said that “true peace is based on self-determination, respect for individual rights, open and honest communications, and that is the kind of peace we want.” S. Res 410 attempts to fall in line with this American value as it recognizes that true peace for both Israelis and Palestinians comes from a people's right to self-determination and individual rights. It stumbles when it conditions the Palestinian right of self-determination that all states enjoy, the right to a military for self defense, thus redefining a universal right by creating a troubling precedent of a double-standard in which all countries are equal, but some are more equal than others,
By condition recognition of the State of Palestine, it fails to align American policy with the foundational right articulated in our Declaration of Independence and reiterated in President Reagan’s statement: “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
American Interest Analysis: A just and lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians is in America’s national interest, and it is clear that the approach of the last 20 years that makes Palestinian statehood subject to Israel’s approval, rather than a starting point for negotiations between two sovereign nations, has not led, and cannot lead, to that outcome. This Resolution moves the ball forward, but stumbles to close the gap between U.S. policy and that of key U.S. allies who have moved, or are moving, to recognize Palestinian statehood.
A New Policy’s Recommendation: Requires Amendment
A New Policy notes that recognition of Palestinian statehood is necessary, but cannot be conditioned on a demilitarized state that caveats the Palestinian right to self-determination. Recognition is of significant diplomatic and legal importance - but it does not end the suffering in Gaza, nor the occupation in the West Bank. That recognition cannot come at the cost of the right of collective self-defence that all states enjoy. Thus creating an environment where the State of Palestine might appear to be equal but in reality is less equal than everyone else.
That said, A New Policy would support S. Res 410 if it was amended to call on the President to recognise the State of Palestine, as consistent with international law without condition. This amendment would realign American policy in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to reflect the hard-learned lessons of the past 20 years: that Palestinian self-determination is both a human right, and, rather than being an end point for a peace process, a prerequisite for it. S. Res 410 also returns policymaking leadership on the question of Palestinian statehood to where it belongs - in Washington, D.C., rather than in Tel Aviv.
For more information please contact: Josh Paul, (202) 770-0055, info@anewpolicy.org
