An anti-BDS bill, as well as three other bills concerning the Middle East and Israel
A group of seven Republican members of Congress — including Lee Zeldin, Brian Mast, and Liz Cheney — have begun circulating a petition that would force a House floor vote on an anti-BDS bill, as well as three other bills concerning the Middle East and Israel.
Although it sounds like a mere technical matter, it was in fact a clever maneuver by Republicans that has already caused the Democrats considerable embarrassment. Let’s start at the beginning: Anti-BDS bills have been introduced several times in the past few years. A considerable number of Democratic representatives have voted for such legislation in the past, and some have been cosponsors.
But there is no consensus in the party as to the necessity of such legislation. On the progressive wing of the party, there are those who claim that the right to boycott falls into the same category as freedom of speech, and is therefore enshrined in the First Amendment to the Constitution.
Whether by coincidence or not, the bill under discussion, which passed in the Senate with 70 votes, has been languishing on the floor of the Democratic-controlled House for several months now. For this reason, a group of Republicans turned to a parliamentary maneuver to settle the issue. For such a petition to be binding, it needs to be signed by 218 representatives, a majority of the 435-member House. The Republicans claim that there are 30 Democrats in the House who voted for such legislation in the past, and they expect them to sign the petition. If every Republicans puts his signature to the petition, they will only need 21 additional signatures for a majority.
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