California Democrats Oppose Pro-Israel, Anti-Boycott Legislation

The California Democratic Party voted last weekend to oppose pro-Israel federal legislation designed to counter the “boycott, divestment, and sanctions” (BDS) movement, which seeks to isolate Israel economically and diplomatically.

The Forward reported earlier this week:

The California Democratic Party adopted a resolution at their annual convention on Sunday to oppose federal bills intended to thwart the movement to boycott Israel.

The party’s legislative committee also supported a proposed federal bill preventing the Israel Defense Forces from using U.S. tax dollars to detain Palestinian children, but did not make it into the platform.

The federal bills are the Israel Anti-Boycott Act, which could impose fines of up to $1 million and 20 years in prison for boycotting Israel, and the Combatting BDS Act, which encourages states to pass their own laws against boycotting Israel.

Ironically, California Governor Jerry Brown actually signed a bipartisan anti-BDS bill in 2016. As Breitbart News reported at the time:

On Saturday afternoon, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed an historic anti-boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) bill, Assembly Bill 2844, into law, effectively barring companies that engage in discrimination against any sovereign state — including the Jewish state of Israel — from doing business with the Golden State.

The bill, which was introduced by Assemblyman Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica), and co-authored by Assemblyman Travis Allen (R-Huntington Beach), had overwhelmingly passed in both houses of the legislature last month. California’s State Senate approved the bill by a vote of 34 to 1 on August 24,  and the State Assembly passed it by 69 to 1 six days later.

The fact that California Democrats would vote to oppose federal bills similar to a law they themselves had passed nearly unanimously just 18 months before suggests the degree to which the state party has moved sharply to the left since the 2016 election.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He was named to Forward’s 50 “most influential” Jews in 2017. He is the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.