The United States Senate passed controversial legislation on Tuesday to curb boycotts against Israel, sending the bill to the Democrat-controlled House for full consideration.
The Strengthening America’s Security in the Middle East Act, known as S.1, was approved in Congress’s upper chamber by a vote of 77-21.
The legislative package includes the Israel Anti-Boycott Act and the Combating BDS Act, bills that are both supported by most major Jewish organizations but vehemently opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the left-wing J Street lobby group on the grounds that they violate free speech.
While the Israel Anti-Boycott Act would make it illegal under federal statute to boycott the Jewish state, the Combating BDS Act would grant federal protection to the 26 states that have already passed similar laws targeting Israel boycotters.
Shortly after the bill passed, J Street sent an email to its supporters urging them to lobby their House members to oppose the legislation.
“J Street has been clear about our opposition to the Global BDS Movement,” the group told its supporters.” But we’ve also been clear that this bill is a disaster that would undermine America’s commitment to a two-state solution and violate free speech. We aren’t alone. MoveOn, the ACLU and Indivisible are all fighting this legislation on the grounds that it suppresses constitutionally protected political expression.”
S.1 also incorporates a separate measure to codify into federal law an agreement for the US to provide Israel with $38 billion over 10 years in security assistance.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the Obama administration, and has thus far been upheld by the Trump White House, but could be torn up at any time. Codifying it into law would protect the aid over the life of the agreement.cans’ First Amendment rights.
Every Republican voted to advance the legislation but the Democratic senators were largely split.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer voted in favor of the bill while every Senate Democrats eyeing a 2020 bid voted against it, including Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, New York Senator Kristen Gillibrand, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, California Senator Kamala Harris and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker
Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, has been a consistent critic of the bills. “While I do not support the BDS movement, we must defend every American’s constitutional right to peacefully engage in political activity,” he tweeted last week, after the bill initially advanced in the Senate. “It is clear to me that S.1 would violate Americans’ First Amendment rights.”
timesofisrael.com
