Senate Democrats Blocking Pro-Israel Effort to Combat Jewish Boycotts

A congressional measure to combat economic boycotts of Israel is being blocked by a leading senator who recently called on the Obama administration to investigate what he alleged are Israeli war crimes, according to congressional sources apprised of the matter.

A group of senators has been working to ensure that a measure to penalize supporters of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, or BDS—an anti-Israel movement that seeks to wage economic warfare on the Jewish state—is included in a government funding bill currently up for debate in the Senate.

The anti-BDS language, which would help state and local governments cut economic ties with any business linked to the BDS movement, is being stalled by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D., Vt.), who does not want the language inserted into the Fiscal Year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, a bill that funds most U.S. defense priorities.

Leahy, who is blocking the measure on behalf of those opposed to its language, says the pro-Israel measure will lead to greater disaster in the Middle East, according to congressional sources familiar with the senator’s stance.

Leahy is the second Democrat in less than a week to express opposition to the measure and place a hold on it. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio) had been leading the charge until late Monday when a spokesperson for his office told the Washington Free Beacon that he no longer opposed the language.

A spokesperson for Leahy’s office did not respond to a Free Beacon request for comment on the matter.

Leahy has been a vocal critic of Israel and recently called on the State Department to launch an investigation into what he said were Israeli human rights violations in the Middle East.

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