S.720 amends the Export Administration Act of 1979 to include prohibitions on boycotts fostered by international governmental organizations against Israel and to direct the Export-Import Bank of the United States to oppose boycotts against Israel.
This pernicious bill highlights many vital yet typically ignored dynamics in Washington. First, journalists love to lament the lack of bipartisanship in Washington, yet the very mention of the word "Israel" causes most members of both parties to quickly snap into line in a show of unanimity that would make the regime of North Korea blush with envy. Even when virtually the entire world condemns Israeli aggression, or declares settlements illegal, the U.S. Congress - across party and ideological lines - finds virtually complete harmony in uniting against the world consensus and in defense of the Israeli government.
This bill would impose civil and criminal punishment on individuals solely because of their political beliefs about Israel and its policies. Anybody whose lack of business ties to Israel is politically motivated would be subjected to a minimum civil penalty of $250,000, as well as imprisonment. It blatantly violates the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
Bills like this play right into the hands of neo-Nazis and other anti-Jewish extremists. They use legislation like this as support for their wild claims that Jews run the United States. This anti-American and un-Constitutional bill needs to be stopped cold.
