The Indiana Senate near-unanimously approved a bill on Tuesday banning state funds from investing in entities that support the anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
The BDS movement, which aims to demonize, delegitimize, isolate and ultimately destroy the Jewish State has begun to appear in Indiana, especially on college campuses.
The 47-3 approved bill with bipartisan backing proclaims BDS to meet the standards of “extraordinary circumstances necessary for mandatory divestment” by the state’s law.
BDS promotes intimidation, fear and violence across campuses in Indiana according to the bill, and is “unethical and deeply damaging to the cause of peace, justice, equality democracy and human rights for all people in the Middle East.”
The measure, which passed in January by Indiana’s House of Representatives, is expected to be signed into law by Governor Mike Pence, a pro-Israel Republican who served in the US Congress.
The Jewish Affairs Committee of Indiana, which led the lobbying effort for the bill, issued a statement thanking the General Assembly for “placing Indiana among the vanguard of states offering public support for the besieged and democratic state of Israel, our closest ally in the Middle East and beyond.”
Indiana’s bill is one of many bills that have been passed or are currently under consideration in state legislatures that would oppose the BDS movement. Last week, Florida lawmakers also overwhelmingly approved an anti-BDS law in a 112-2 majority.