World Jewish News

Jewish group welcomes Pennsylvania anti-BDS legislation

World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder welcomed Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf’s decision to sign a bill requiring state-affiliated companies to certify that they do not boycott or discriminate against sovereign states, including Israel.

The bipartisan bill passed by an overwhelming majority of 181-9 in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and 47-1 in the Senate.

The bill signed will deny state contracts to businesses or entities involved in economic boycotts of Israel.

The governor said there is a movement to engage in boycotts instead of peace talks to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts. “And this effort has specifically focused its attention unfairly on Israel,” Governor Wolf said. “We must make clear that we are in favor of a peaceful negotiated solution to that conflict – we are. And that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the United States stand behind our friends and our allies, and will not encourage selective economic punishment in place of peaceful solutions to challenging conflicts.”

Lauder called it a “productive and just response to a counter-productive and unjust campaign against the Jewish state.”

“Governor Wolf’s diplomatic pledge to stand up against ‘economic punishment in place of peaceful solutions to challenging conflicts’ is a welcome move in the face of the discriminatory and damaging campaign being waged against Israel,” Lauder said.

“Detractors of Israel single out the Jewish state for punishment, denying it of its right to sovereignty and self-defense, allowing history to be re-written rather than engaging in dialogue and a deeper understanding of the difficult situation that has faced the region for decades.”

Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and South Carolina have passed similar resolutions, and the New York governor has issued an executive order not to engage in business with companies that boycott Israel.

EJP