New Hampshire has become the 37th state to ban the state from doing business with those boycotting Israel, known as the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions Movement (BDS).
Gov. Chris Sununu (R) signed the executive order because the House “tabled, or removed from consideration, legislation that would have prohibited state investments in companies involved in the economic action” three months ago.
From The Keene Sentinel:
Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, participated in the ceremony. Chatting with the Republican governor before the event, Erdan mentioned that New Hampshire is the 37th state to adopt such a policy.“Most have been able to do it with legislation,” Sununu said. “If I can’t do it with legislation, I’ll put my thumb on the scale.”Sununu said in a speech before the signing that New Hampshire and Israel have been partners in commerce, culture, tourism and trade, including $1 billion in exports since 1996.“Today’s executive order will help strengthen and reaffirm this critical partnership with Israel,” he said.The state has long had a policy against contracting with businesses that unlawfully discriminate, Sununu added.“Boycotts of entities and individuals of specific countries often amount to ethnic, religious and national discrimination, which directly contradicts New Hampshire’s values,” Sununu said.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations claimed the ban violates their First Amendment: “The government cannot tell Americans how to spend their money or who to financially support. Boycotts have been a part of American political life since the founding of our nation, and no state order attempting to ban or limit our right to boycott can be legitimate.”
New Hampshire joins 36 other states: Tennessee, South Carolina, Illinois (yes, Illinois!), Alabama, Colorado, Indiana, Florida, Virginia, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, New York, Rhode Island, New Jersey, California, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Arkansas, Texas, Minnesota, Nevada, Kansas, North Carolina, Maryland, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Missouri, Utah, Idaho, West Virginia, and North Dakota.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), along with Sens. Mike Braun (R-IN), Rick Scott (R-FL), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), and Steve Daines (R-MT), has tried to pass the Combating BDS Act of 2023.
“The legislation would help state and local governments stand up to the anti-Israel BDS movement, which seeks to delegitimize the Jewish state of Israel by inflicting economic damage and starve it of commerce,” Rubio’s office said in a press release. “The bill would increase protections for state and local governments in the U.S. that divest from, prohibit investment in, or otherwise restrict contracting with firms that knowingly engage in commerce-related or investment-related BDS activity attacking Israel, as well as persons doing business in Israel or Israeli-controlled territories.”
Rubio and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) have been trying to pass legislation since 2017 and again in 2021.
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