US: Republican senators introduce bill banning boycotts of Israel

Twelve Republican US senators have introduced the Countering Hate Against Israel by Federal Contractors (Chai) Act, which would prohibit federal contracts with entities that boycott Israel.

The lead sponsor, Senator Jim Risch of Idaho, said in a press release that “businesses who boycott Israel only seek to normalise antisemitism”.

His move follows the same bill’s introduction in the House of Representatives in July of last year, sponsored by Republican Representative Claudia Tenney. The Chai bill remains in the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, pending a vote.

Risch previously wrote an opinion article in The Washington Times arguing that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (Unrwa) should be disbanded.

In February this year, the House also passed the IGO Anti-Boycott Act, which prohibits US citizens from participating in boycotts organised by any “international governmental organisation” against US allies.

The Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, modelled after the boycott movement against South African Apartheid, has existed for 15 years and aims to pressure Israel to comply with international law.

In the UK, an anti-BDS bill scheduled to go through parliament was shelved after former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called the general election. Pro-Palestine groups welcomed the development.

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

Twenty-eight states currently prohibit agencies from working with companies that boycott Israel, while six others passed similar bills in the form of executive orders, according to Newsweek.

When the Arkansas anti-BDS law was appealed, the US Supreme Court opted not to review it, leaving lower courts to uphold the law.

What anti-BDS laws do

A report by Human Rights Watch finds that anti-boycott laws "punish responsible businesses".

Airbnb, for example, announced in 2018 that it would stop listing properties in Israeli settlements, which are illegal under international law. Israel's strategic affairs minister wrote to several state governors, some of whom then took action against Airbnb. The company soon reversed its decision.

The report continued: "It is impossible to do business in the settlements without contributing to or benefitting from human rights abuse and violations of international humanitarian law."

Several legal arguments have also emerged against anti-BDS laws. The American Civil Liberties Union argued that anti-BDS laws violate the First Amendment right to boycott.

An article published in the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law examined 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".

Many lawmakers have also justified anti-BDS laws as combating discrimination, but an article published in The Harvard Law Review argues that "anti-BDS laws are not backed by a valid antidiscrimination interest".