Nearly every Senate Democrat joined forces on Wednesday to co-sponsor a proposed amendment to the defense supplemental spending package declaring U.S. support for a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians. 

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) offered the amendment, which reiterates that U.S. policy favors a two-state solution, along with 48 of his Democratic colleagues in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announcing his opposition to the approach. 

Only two of the Senate’s 51 Democrats, Sens. John Fetterman (D-PA) and Joe Manchin (D-WV), did not co-sponsor the amendment.

“We, as members of the Democratic Conference, thought it was very important to reiterate American foreign policy as it relates to a two state solution,” Schatz told reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday. 

“What will determine the future of Israel and Palestine is whether or not there’s hope, and the two-state solution has to be that hope. I am not here to tell you that it will be easy. Everybody understands the degree of difficulty here,” he continued. “But we now have almost 50 members of the United States Senate in very, very short order, clarifying that the American position remains two states.”

“We’re not over ambitious with the particulars because we do think that remains to be negotiated in our multilateral conversation that has begun but has a long way to go,” he added.

Schatz said he had already been working on the amendment as standalone legislation, but “it is just a fact that the prime minister’s statements last week accelerated our efforts and also turbocharged our efforts where some people felt a need to clarify that this remains the position of the United States Congress.”

Netanyahu said last week that Israel required “security control over all territory” to ensure its safety, which is incompatible “with the idea of sovereignty” for the Palestinians.

Schatz’s amendment comes one day after 44 House Democrats, led by Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL) and Jim Himes (CT), penned a letter to President Joe Biden voicing their sustained support for a two-state solution in response to the Netanyahu comments.

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“We are deeply concerned by Prime Minister Netanyahu’s public rejection of a two-state solution on January 18, and respectfully request that your Administration outline a strategy to marshal international and ultimately, Israeli and Palestinian support to successfully implement a two-state solution,” the group wrote. 

For his part, Biden has maintained that he still supports a two-state solution and sees a path toward there being an eventual Palestinian state.