Europe: New federal law fights European boycotts of Israel

Sadly, it is the United States that has to fight calls for boycotts against Israel orchestrated by the European.  European Jewish organisations are not in any way organised to fight the vicious BDS campaign.

Eugene Kontorovich writes @ The Washington Post

A Belgian obsession

On Monday, President Obama signed into law the sweeping Trade Promotion Authority, a measure with broad significance for future international trade deals with Europe. It also includes important new federal legislation, the United States-Israel Trade and Commercial Enhancement Act, opposing boycotts and other economic warfare against Israel.

The law will significantly increase the legal and economic risks for the E.U., and companies world-wide, to pass discriminatory sanctions and restrictions against Israel.

The central provision requires U.S. trade negotiators, when negotiating trade agreements, to seek to “discourag[e] politically motivated actions to boycott, divest from or sanction Israel and to seek the elimination of politically motivated non-tariff barriers on Israeli goods, services, or other commerce imposed on the State of Israel.” This measure is particularly timely as the law will apply to a major future trade negotiations with the European Union, which has long been threatening to impose economic restrictions on Israel.

The laws apply equally to “Israel” and “Israeli-controlled territories.” This is in keeping with existing U.S. policy, as articulated in several laws including the 1979 amendments to the Export Administration Act. Moreover, given the White House’s persistent refusal to recognize Israeli sovereignty inside the 1949 Armistice Lines (the Green Line), such language is necessary for Congress to ensure the laws apply even to western Jerusalem.   More.