US Senate To Take Up Combating BDS Act

The incoming and expanded Republican Senate majority has decided that protecting Israel from boycotts will be its first order of business:

“With the start of the 2019 legislative session, one might hope the US Senate would prioritize ending the two-week government shutdown. Instead, the Senate’s first bill of the year reportedly aims to protect Israel from boycotts.

According to The Intercept, the first piece of legislation to be rolled out by the 2019 GOP-controlled Senate will give the US government the authority to cut ties with companies that choose to boycott Israel. The not-very-America-first decree is part of a series of foreign policy-related measures which will make up S.1 – the designation given to the symbolically important first bill of the session.

The boycott-banning legislation has apparently taken precedence over the ongoing government shutdown – already the third-longest on record, shuttering nine departments and leaving hundreds of thousands of government workers without paychecks.

With Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) as the lead sponsor, the Combating BDS Act is expected to receive bipartisan support. Coincidentally, punishing corporations and individuals who support the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement is a top legislative priority for AIPAC, the powerful pro-Israel lobby. The bill was previously introduced (but never passed) last year, and gave state and local governments the authority to refuse to do business with US firms participating in a boycott against Israel. Similar anti-BDS legislation has already been adopted in 26 states. So far, two federal courts have ruled that punishing companies or individuals who boycott goods produced in Israel violates constitutionally-protected rights under the First Amendment. …”

What will Israel get from its wish list this year?

Do you remember hearing anything about the Combating BDS Act during the midterm elections? I remember hearing about ending birthright citizenship, the wall, the caravans and violent Antifa mobs. Noticing a pattern here?

To support Israel’s right to self defense, Washington should take the long overdue step of affirming Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights: https://t.co/CFG50NwS34

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 7, 2019

Note: Sen. Ted Cruz thinks Israel’s defense requires recognizing its sovereignty in the Golan Heights. John Bolton also believes we should stay in Syria indefinitely for Israel’s sake.