Israel endorses Bill to ban foreigners who support boycotts

Israeli ministers have endorsed a Bill that would allow the state to ban foreigners who support anti-Israel boycotts from entering the country.

The far-reaching measure, proposed by Knesset member Yinon Magal from the right-wing Jewish Home party, grants the Israeli authorities the right to withhold a visa or residency permit from anyone who is not a citizen or a permanent resident and calls for or encourages boycotts of Israel or belongs to an organisation that does so.

“It cannot be that someone who is trying to harm the state of Israel can enter it freely,” Mr Magal said after the Bill was endorsed by ministers.

The Bill, which still has to receive the backing of the Knesset parliament, was supported by a number of lawmakers from the centre-left Zionist Union and centrist Yesh Atid and Kulanu parties in addition to right-wing and religious coalition factions.

The main targets of the Bill are supporters of the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which has gained support in recent years, particularly among academic institutions and trade unions in the West.

Absurd situation

“The absurd situation in which a person can be active in boycotting Israel and harming it abroad and then come to Israel and be accepted with open arms must be stopped,” Mr Magal said. “A country that wants to live cannot allow such a reality.”

The Bill is also applicable to foreign Jews who are eligible for Israeli citizenship under Israel’s “Law of Return”, which up until now had granted automatic citizenship to any Jew around the world wishing to emigrate to Israel. The new Bill stipulates the Israeli interior minister can make exceptions.

The Bill was motivated by increasing calls to boycott Israel or goods produced in Israeli settlements. Earlier this year the British National Union of Students voted to boycott Israeli companies and affiliate with the BDS movement.

French mobile phone company Orange announced it was halting all operations in Israel and ending its partnership with the Israeli company Partner after company chief executive Stephane Richard said he wished he “could dump Israel tomorrow”, although he later apologised for his comments.

Prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu decided not to support a separate Bill, proposed by former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman, head of the opposition Yisrael Beiteinu party, that called for the withholding of state funding for Israeli parties who support boycotts.

Product boycott

He introduced the Bill after some Arab Knesset members came out in support of boycotting Israel and the left-wing Meretz backed the boycott of settlement products.

Opponents criticised the proposal as a move to curb freedom of expression on a key issue in Israeli politics – the future of the West Bank.