In response to Senate Republicans’ attempt to pass the controversial “Combating BDS Act” as part of “S.1”, J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami issued the following statement:

“While millions of Americans suffer from the effects of the ongoing government shutdown, it’s outrageous that Senate Republican leaders are prioritizing legislation that tramples on the First Amendment and advances the interests of the Israeli settlement movement. Not a single Democrat should vote to enable this farce.

J Street opposes the Global BDS Movement, and we know that legislation like the ‘Combating BDS Act’ does nothing to help Israel or to effectively counter the movement. Instead, it extends US legal protections to settlements and alienates average Americans by infringing on free speech rights. The attempt to push it into a law during a government shutdown is a brazen partisan stunt that must be stopped.”