The Israeli Knesset last Monday quietly passed an ill-conceived bill that is inconsistent with the democratic values of the Jewish State.

The legislation bars entry into Israel by persons who have publicly supported the boycotts, divestments and sanctions movement, known as BDS.  While the St. Louis Jewish Light continues to strongly oppose the BDS movement, along with the majority of mainstream American Jewish organizations, we believe that the new ban should not stand.

The American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League and the Union for Reform Judaism, all of which strongly oppose BDS, have spoken out against the crudely drafted Knesset law, which was passed at the instigation of the extreme right in Israel’s parliament.

Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, the largest Jewish movement in North America, was quoted in the New York Times as stating, “It’s going to be a huge sign up by the door of the Jewish State: ‘Don’t come unless you agree with everything we do here.’  I don’t know what kind of democracy makes that statement.”

The bill, co-sponsored by Bezalel Smotrich of the National Home Party, passed by a vote of 46 to 28, with supporters calling it an effort to exclude haters.  The bill lumps together those who support BDS only in the West Bank settlements with those who support it in Israel proper.  

Such legislation is bound to have unintended, negative consequences. For example, the late Theodore Bikel, a lifelong Zionist and past national president of the American Jewish Congress, refused to perform in West Bank settlements but did so in Israel proper.  He would have been swept up in this heavy-handed ban.

Another reason this law actually harms Israel is that it bans people who could be anti-Israel from visiting the Jewish State and end up becoming ardent supporters.

A prime example was the late conservative Sen. Jesse Helms, who had been staunchly anti-Israel. After a visit in 1985, he became a strong supporter who later became chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where his new stance helped secure passage of key aid packages for Israel.

However well-intentioned the supporters of this bill might have thought they were, this counterproductive BDS law is Bad Divisive Strategy. It deserves a prompt repeal.