Abbott signs bill targeting firms that boycott Israel,
Legislation banning state contracts and investment in companies that boycott Israel was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday at the Jewish Community Center in northwest Austin.
The law is a response to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement that seeks to change Israeli policy toward Palestinians.
The bill Abbott signed into law — House Bill 89 — prohibits the state from contracting with and investing in companies that boycott Israel, Texas’ fourth biggest trading partner.
The Senate approved the bill 26-5 and no House member voted against the bill.
At least 18 other states have enacted rules similar to Texas’, despite lingering questions about whether such laws hamper rights of American businesses and individuals.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict dates to before the creation of Israel in 1948 and centers on disputed land and holy sites in the Middle East.
Despite stated goals to create two states — an independent Palestine alongside Israel, as envisioned in a series of accords — Palestinian territory remains under Israeli control, leading to claims of rights violations.
The Palestinian BDS National Committee calls for a boycott of all Israeli products, though its major campaigns are against companies that operate in the occupied West Bank. Organizers say they were inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement to call for boycotts as a form of non-violent pressure on Israel.
But Rabbi Daniel Septimus, CEO of Shalom Austin, which runs the Jewish Community Center, told the American-Statesman that the “ultimate goal (of the movement) is the de-legitimizing and destruction of Israel.”
At a hearing in March before the House State Affairs committee, Sandra Hagee Parker of the Christians United for Israel Action Fund said the BDS movement amounted to “economic anti-Semitism” and is a “manifesto devoid of any ideology other than hatred.”
And Charles Kaufman of the Zionist organization B’nai B’rith International drew a parallel between the shipping off of Jews in boxcars during the Holocaust and the aims of the BDS movement.
But others said the intent of the BDS movement was being twisted.
“We don’t support the movement because we hate Jews — in fact many of us are proud Jews — but because we’re humanists: We believe all people deserve to live in dignity and with equal rights, including Palestinians,” Katherine Pace of the Austin chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace told lawmakers at the hearing on the bill in March.
“To dismiss (BDS) as anti-Semitic is an act of willful ignorance,” she continued. “It’s like claiming anti-apartheid activists were motivated by hate against white South Africans.”
Under the new law, the Texas Comptroller’s Office shall prepare a list of “all companies that boycott Israel” and provide the list to all state agencies.
If an agency finds it is doing business with one of the listed companies, it shall warn the company its contract is in jeopardy and offer it the “opportunity to clarify its Israel-related activities.”
Within three months, the company “must cease boycotting Israel in order to avoid qualifying for divestment by state governmental entities.”
“As Israel’s No. 1 trading partner in the United States, Texas is proud to reaffirm its support for the people of Israel and we will continue to build on our historic partnership,” Abbott said. “Anti-Israel policies are anti-Texas policies, and we will not tolerate such actions against an important ally.”
At least 18 other states have enacted rules similar to Texas’, despite lingering questions about whether such laws hamper rights of American businesses and individuals.