Bill banning BDS activists’ entry to Israel passes first Knesset reading

BETHLEHEM: A Knesset committee approved on Wednesday a first reading of a bill that would ban supporters of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement from entering Israel, local media reported.

The Jerusalem Post reported that the Internal Affairs and Environment Committee of Israel’s parliament approved the first reading, which is supported by MK Bezalel Smotrich of the far-right Jewish Home party.

A bill needs to go through three readings before becoming a law.

“Why should I let someone who slanders the state and harms it into my home?” the newspaper quoted committee chairman David Amsalem as saying.

The Arab Joint List – the political bloc which represents parties in the Knesset led by Palestinian citizens of Israel – did not immediately respond to a request for comment, although a spokesman told Ma’an that the coalition was “completely” opposed to the bill.

The movement was founded in July 2005 by a swath of Palestinian civil society as a peaceful movement to restore Palestinian rights in accordance with international law through strategies of boycotting Israeli products and cultural institutions, divesting from companies complicit in violations against Palestinians, and implementing state sanctions against the Israeli government.

The introduction of the bill in November came after months of Israeli efforts to crack down on the movement.

Israeli Minister of the Interior Aryeh Deri and Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan announced in August that they were forming a joint task force to “expel and ban the entry of BDS activists”.