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Illinois governor warns EU against boycotting Israel

The governor of the State of Illinois warned the European Union against imposing any penalties on the State of Israel, including Judea and Samaria. 

The State of Illinois warned the European Union (EU) against having a role in boycotting Israel in an any way, including with regards to Judea and Samaria. The state is prepared to meet any such actions with divestments by Illinois from EU firms.

“Under our law, the term ‘boycott Israel’ means ‘engaging in actions that are politically motivated and are intended to penalize, inflict economic harm on, or otherwise limit commercial relations with the state of Israel or companies based in Israel or in territories controlled by the State of Israel,’” Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner wrote in a letter to EU President Donald Tusk, according to JTA (Jewish Telegraphic Agency).

The EU Council had already enacted new guidelines requiring Israeli goods produced in territories won by Israel during the Six Day War in 1967 to be labelled distinctly from products within Israel’s pre-1967 borders. Rauner’s letter essentially threatens to penalize the EU if it takes any additional significant steps to support the boycott of the Jewish state.

“Therefore, any attempt by the European Union to direct or encourage companies (including financial institutions) within its jurisdiction to participate in such activity, including the adoption of sanctions pursuant to the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, may put EU firms at risk of violating Illinois law,” said the letter.

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Resolution 2334, referenced by Governor Rauner, passed unanimously in the UN Security Council with an abstention by the Obama Administration. The resolution not only condemned any Israeli presence in territories won by Israel from Jordan during the Six-Day War of 1967 but also called upon UN member states to “distinguish in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967.”

By: Jonathan Benedek, World Israel News