Israel’s Netanyahu Hails US House’s Passage of Anti-BDS Bill: ‘It Is Right, It Is Correct, and It Is Very Helpful’
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by Benjamin Kerstein
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo: Reuters / Ronen Zvulun / File.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has thanked the US House of Representatives for passing on Tuesday a bill rejecting boycotts of Israel.
House Resolution 246, which “opposes the Global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement (BDS Movement) targeting Israel, including efforts to target United States companies that are engaged in commercial activities that are legal under United States law, and all efforts to delegitimize the State of Israel,” was approved by a 398-17 margin, with five abstentions.
“I would like to commend the US House of Representatives for overwhelmingly approving by a great bipartisan majority, Democrats and Republicans alike, a decision against boycotts against Israel,” Netanyahu said in a video posted on Twitter.
“This attests to the support for Israel in the US. This support is bipartisan and is important to us,” the prime minister added.
“I welcome this decision,” he said. “It is right, it is correct, and it is very helpful.”
אני רוצה לברך את בית הנבחרים האמריקני שקיבל החלטה מוחצת וסוחפת ברוב גדול של שתי המפלגות, הדמוקרטית והרפובליקנית כאחת, נגד החרמות נגד ישראל. זו עדות לעוצמה של התמיכה בישראל בארה״ב, זו תמיכה שהיא דו מפלגתית והיא חשובה לנו. אני מברך על ההחלטה, היא גם צודקת, גם נכונה וגם מאוד מועילה. pic.twitter.com/lfMcIIShrv
— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) July 24, 2019
Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan, who leads Israel’s anti-BDS efforts, also commented on the vote, saying, “The decision to denounce the boycott campaign is an important achievement in the struggle against the delegitimization and antisemitism within BDS.”
“It proves that despite exceptional extremist voices currently heard in the public discourse in the United States, the support and cooperation with Israel on a bipartisan level is stronger than ever,” he asserted.
“The importance of this decision is that it publicly recognizes that key parts of BDS oppose Israel’s existence as a Jewish state, no matter the borders, and that BDS only harms the chances of achieving peace and coexistence in our region,” Erdan added.
“We will work to implement this decision and turn it into practical policy against the efforts of the boycott campaign,” he concluded.
