A BDS protester. Photo: Mohamed Ouda via Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – A major Jewish organization has launched a bipartisan campaign against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

The campaign, spurred by the American Jewish Committee (AJC), calls on 50 state governors to condemn BDS and reaffirm that Israel’s an indispensable US ally and economic partner.

The campaign, called Governors United Against BDS, is co-chaired by Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas and Governor Dannel P. Malloy of Connecticut.

“We, the undersigned Governors, reject efforts to demonize and delegitimize Israel — America’s democratic ally in the Middle East — through the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement,” the group’s statement reads.

So far, 17 governors, who have signed the petition, agree that “the goals of the BDS movement are antithetical” to their respective individual and state values.

AJC’s declaration emphasizes that BDS seeks “to isolate Israel — a pluralistic nation with deep cultural, familial, security, educational, scientific and commercial bonds with our state and with the United States as a whole — rather than recognize the profound mutual benefits of our engagement with it.”