U.S.-Israel Partnership to Hold Iran Accountable Act

Summary: U.S.-Israel Partnership to Hold Iran Accountable Act This bill authorizes the Department of State to establish a joint commission with Israel to address Iranian compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The commission should:   support professional dialogues to detect and respond to JCPOA violations by Iran;  coordinate subcabinet level political discussions on contingency responses to such violations and responses to Iran's destabilizing, non-nuclear activities, including missile launches, support for terrorism, and human rights violations; and  coordinate technical discussions among the State Department, the Department of the Treasury, the Department of Energy, and counterpart Israeli ministries on technical aspects of JCPOA implementation.  The bill expresses the sense of Congress that:   Israeli officials who are counterparts to specified U.S. officials should be appointed as commission members;  the President should ensure commission participation by senior officials in the Executive Office of the President and counterparts in the Office of the Prime Minister of Israel; and  the Department of Defense should conduct joint military planning with Israel based on commission-identified contingency scenarios, such as responding to the detection of a covert Iranian enrichment facility, new Iranian weaponization efforts, or other clear indicators that Iran has begun a nuclear weapon breakout.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``U.S.-Israel Partnership to Hold Iran 
Accountable Act''.

SEC. 2. UNITED STATES-ISRAEL JOINT COMMISSION TO ADDRESS IRANIAN 
              COMPLIANCE WITH THE JCPOA.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) Enforcement of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action 
        (JCPOA) is of mutual concern to the United States and Israel.
            (2) There is particular concern that as the world turns 
        elsewhere, Iran will exploit inattention, violate the JCPOA, 
        and eventually obtain a nuclear weapon. Iran is already 
        violating the letter and spirit of United Nations Security 
        Council Resolution 2231 through ballistic missile launches.
            (3) Invigorating high-level dialogue between the United 
        States and Israel on a joint strategy to prevent a nuclear 
        armed Iran would strengthen mutual efforts to accomplish that 
        goal.
            (4) A joint commission between the United States and Israel 
        could engage in senior-level dialogue on implementing the 
        JCPOA, working together to detect cheating by Iran and 
        preparing contingency responses in the event Iran has begun a 
        breakout to a nuclear weapon.
            (5) Both the United States and Israel have developed highly 
        capable nuclear experts who can help each other refine their 
        plans to respond if Iran has begun a breakout to a nuclear 
        weapon, as well as ``red team'' vulnerabilities in response 
        plans.
            (6) Detecting covert weaponization activities is 
        extraordinarily difficult and most indicative of a change in 
        Iran's calculus with respect to pursuing a nuclear weapon. It 
        is critical that the United States and Israel coordinate among 
        security professionals and political leadership to discuss how 
        to identify and reach consensus on such a development.
    (b) Authorization.--The President, acting through the Secretary of 
State, is authorized to establish a joint commission with the 
Government of Israel to address Iranian compliance with the JCPOA.
    (c) Activities.--The commission should undertake the following 
activities:
            (1) Support professional dialogues to detect violations of 
        the JCPOA by Iran, respond to such violations, and enhance 
        technical monitoring capabilities. Such support may include 
        travel and convening of conferences for meetings of 
        nongovernmental experts.
            (2) Coordinate subcabinet level political discussions on 
        contingency responses to violations of the JCPOA by Iran and 
        responses to Iran's destabilizing, non-nuclear activities, 
        including its launching of missiles in violation of United 
        Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, support for 
        terrorism, and human rights violations.
            (3) Coordinate technical discussions among the Department 
        of State, the Department of the Treasury, and the Department of 
        Energy, and counterpart Israeli ministries on technical aspects 
        of implementation of the JCPOA, including--
                    (A) determining what constitutes a marginal 
                violation of the JCPOA that would require international 
                consultations and a flexible response and what 
                constitutes a blatant violation of the JCPOA that 
                should be challenged rapidly and decisively, such as 
                the discovery of an undeclared nuclear facility or 
                militarization activities;
                    (B) determining ``red team'' technical conclusions 
                regarding compliance with the JCPOA by Iran;
                    (C) coordinating with the Department of Defense and 
                the Israeli Ministry of Defense to facilitate joint 
                military planning; and
                    (D) providing recommendations to the Department of 
                State regarding appropriate weapons sales to Israel to 
                facilitate preparations by the United States and Israel 
                to counter a serious violation of the JCPOA by Iran 
                through military means.
    (d) Composition.--
            (1) United states members.--The following officials of the 
        United States Government should be appointed as members of the 
        commission:
                    (A) The Secretary of State, who should serve as 
                chairperson of the commission.
                    (B) The Secretary of the Treasury.
                    (C) The Secretary of Energy.
                    (D) The Secretary of Defense.
            (2) Israeli members.--It is the sense of Congress that 
        officials of the Government of Israel who are counterparts to 
        the United States Government officials described in paragraph 
        (1) should be appointed as members of the commission.
            (3) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that 
        the President should ensure participation by senior officials 
        in the Executive Office of the President in the commission and 
        ensure participation of relevant counterparts in the Office of 
        the Prime Minister of Israel in the commission.
    (e) Coordination of Military Planning.--It is the sense of Congress 
that the Secretary of Defense should conduct joint military planning 
with the Government of Israel based on contingency scenarios identified 
by the commission under subsection (c), such as responding to the 
detection of a covert Iranian enrichment facility, new Iranian efforts 
at weaponization, or other clear indicators that Iran has begun a 
breakout to a nuclear weapon.
    (f) Definition.--In this section, the term ``Joint Comprehensive 
Plan of Action'' or ``JCPOA'' means the Joint Comprehensive Plan of 
Action, signed at Vienna July 14, 2015, by Iran and by the People's 
Republic of China, France, Germany, the Russian Federation, the United 
Kingdom and the United States, with the High Representative of the 
European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and all 
implementing materials and agreements related to the Joint 
Comprehensive Plan of Action.
    (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section for fiscal year 2017 such sums 
as may be necessary.