Democrats overwhelmingly oppose bill targeting anti-Israel college boycotts

“The goal of the BDS movement is the destruction of the democratic State of Israel, America’s critical ally in the global fight against terror,” Gottheimer said.

By World Israel News Staff

The House of Representatives on Thursday passed legislation aimed at combating anti-Israel boycotts on college campuses, overcoming overwhelming opposition from Democrats, including the party’s top House leadership.

The measure passed 237-169, with just 33 Democrats joining nearly all Republicans in voting in favor.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and his top deputies were among 167 Democrats who opposed the legislation. Only two Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Warren Davidson of Ohio, voted against it.

The legislation, led by House Rules Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) and co-led by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prohibit institutions participating in a “nonexpressive commercial boycott of Israel” from receiving certain federal education funding.

It would also require universities receiving federal international education funds to certify that students and faculty are not unreasonably prevented from participating in academic programs in Israel and can do so on the same terms as programs in other countries.

Supporters portrayed the measure as a necessary response to the anti-Israel BDS movement and the hostile environment Jewish students have faced on college campuses.

Foxx said university BDS policies have contributed to that environment by “marginalizing Jewish students.”

“They are discriminating against people of the Jewish faith,” Foxx said. “Now is not the time for talk. It is the time for action.”

Gottheimer was among the minority of Democrats who broke with their party leadership to support the legislation.

“The goal of the BDS movement is the destruction of the democratic State of Israel, America’s critical ally in the global fight against terror,” Gottheimer said.

“BDS has no place on college campuses or anywhere in our country. At a time when our Jewish students are facing death threats, being physically assaulted, and blocked from going to class simply for who they are, we must do everything possible to ensure they can learn safely, speak freely, and get the education they deserve.”

The vote exposed a stark divide among Democrats over how far Congress should go in confronting institutional efforts to boycott Israel.

The Democrats supporting the measure included Reps. Ritchie Torres (N.Y.), Jared Moskowitz (Fla.), Brad Sherman (Calif.), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.), Greg Landsman (Ohio), George Latimer (N.Y.), Lois Frankel (Fla.), Jake Auchincloss (Mass.) and Brad Schneider (Ill.).

But the overwhelming majority of the Democratic caucus sided against the measure.

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), a longtime critic of the BDS movement, argued that the legislation threatened constitutionally protected speech.

“No matter how much I may disagree with BDS, and find it strategically stupid and morally repugnant, I will always fight to protect Americans’ right to speech with which I disagree,” Nadler said. “It is the only way to ensure speech I do agree with is equally protected.”

The bill, however, targets institutional participation in certain commercial boycotts and conditions specified federal funding, rather than banning individuals from expressing support for BDS.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), one of Congress’s most outspoken anti-Israel lawmakers, went considerably further, using her opposition to the bill to launch another attack on the Jewish state.

“This is an attack on free speech and academic freedom, all in the name of defending a genocidal apartheid state,” Tlaib said.

“A vote for this bill is a betrayal of those promising young students…because they want to save lives, no matter their faith or ethnicity.”

Her remarks echoed accusations frequently leveled against Israel by its fiercest critics as the Jewish state continues to face international campaigns seeking to isolate it economically and diplomatically.

The BDS movement seeks to pressure Israel through boycotts, divestment and sanctions. Israeli officials and pro-Israel organizations have long argued that the campaign goes far beyond criticism of particular Israeli policies and instead seeks to delegitimize Israel itself.

The legislation’s passage comes after years of growing anti-Israel activism on American campuses and amid heightened concern over antisemitism targeting Jewish students.

Despite those concerns, nearly the entire House Democratic leadership and more than four-fifths of the party’s members voting on the measure declined to support legislation intended to prevent federally funded universities from participating in commercial boycotts of Israel.

BDSHakeem JeffriesRep. Josh GottheimerU.S. House of Representatives