Michael Oren. Photo: Screenshot.

JNS.org – Responding to the American Studies Association boycott of Israel, former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren called on Congress to legislate a bill against academic boycotts of the Jewish state.

Oren wrote in a Dec. 20 op-ed for Politico that “merely protesting this abhorrent decision will not succeed in reversing it or discouraging other similarly bigoted organizations from following suit.”

“What’s needed is a way to fight back, and Congress can do it,” Oren wrote.

Oren cited laws passed by Congress under President Jimmy Carter that imposed economic penalties on U.S. companies who cooperated with boycotts of Israel.

“In signing the legislation, President Jimmy Carter, though a frequent critic of Israel, pledged to ‘end the divisive effects on American life of foreign boycotts aimed at Jewish members of our society,'” Oren wrote.