Republican US senators introduce bill against entities boycotting Israel

Twelve Republican US senators have introduced a bill which would ban federal contracts with entities that boycott Israel.

The lead sponsor of the bill, dubbed the Countering Hate Against Israel by Federal Contractors (Chai) Act, Senator Jim Risch, claimed in a press release that “businesses who boycott Israel only seek to normalize anti-Semitism.”

The same bill was introduced in the House of Representatives in July last year, but it’s still in the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, pending a vote.

Last February, the House passed an anti-boycott act which prohibits American nationals from taking part in boycotts organized by any “international governmental organization” against US allies.

The IGO Anti-Boycott Act raised concerns among followers of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which existed for 15 years and aims to pressure Israel to comply with international law.

The Chai Act is a federal-level application of numerous anti-BDS laws that have been passed at state levels.

Some 28 US states currently outlaw agencies from working with firms that boycott Israel, while six others passed similar bills in the form of executive orders, according to Newsweek.

The American Civil Liberties Union has said anti-BDS laws violate the First Amendment right to boycott.

The Columbia Journal of Transnational Law has also published an article examining arguments justifying anti-BDS laws and found that "many of the anti-BDS laws likely run afoul of the First Amendment by imposing unconstitutional conditions on government contractors and/or beneficiaries of public funding."

While many lawmakers have justified anti-BDS laws as fighting discrimination, an article published in The Harvard Law Review found that "anti-BDS laws are not backed by a valid antidiscrimination interest."

In Congress, Netanyahu gets applause; but outside, pro-Palestinians reaffirm reality

Demonstrators with signs reading, “Arrest Netanyahu” and “End all US aid to Israel” chanted, “Free, free Palestine!”

The latest development comes as Israel has become increasingly isolated since the October war on Gaza.

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime's decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.

Since then, the United States has supplied the Tel Aviv regime with more than 10,000 tons of military equipment and used its veto power against several United Nations Security Council resolutions that called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

The Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 39,175 Palestinians and injured over 90,403 since the start of the offensive. Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under rubble.

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