BDS graffiti sign
BDS graffiti signPhoto: Miriam Alster / Flash 90

Senators from the two large parties in the US presented a bipartisan bill which would encourage states and local authorities to initiate steps against the BDS movement without fear of legal reprisal. The law would provide protection for state and local governments that decide to ban work and investment with companies that target Israel for boycotts, divestment, or sanctions.

Senator Marco Rubio (Republican-Florida) and Joe Manchin (Democrat-West Virginia) submitted Wednesday the "Combating BDS Act" which would ramp up legal protection for authorities which boycott companies involved in BDS activities against Israel.

Rubio said that "this legislation supports efforts by state governments and local communities to use the power of the purse to counter the BDS movement's economic warfare targeting Israel.

"This bipartisan bill is all the more timely after the United Nations Security Council's passage of Resolution 2334, a deplorable one-sided measure that harms Israel and effectively encourages the BDS movement's campaigns to commercially and financially target and discriminate against the Jewish state," he added.

Manchin said that the legislation aims to reassure Israel, "our strongest ally in the Middle East. We need to send them a strong signal that we will do everything in our power to fight the BDS movement." He described the BDS as a "hateful weapon to delegitimize the Jewish State and its allies."