https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-congress/senate-passes-pro-israel-bill-measure-also-rebukes-trump-idUSKCN1PU2KP
On Tuesday the Senate passed a Middle Eastern policy bill allowing states to penalize businesses that take part in boycotts of Israel. According to the bill, state and municipal governments will be allowed to legally punish companies that “boycott, divest from, or impose sanctions on Israel.” In addition, the bill contained an amendment that opposed President Donald Trump's plan to withdraw troops from Syria. The amendment called for the Trump administration to certify a certain set of criteria required before any significant withdrawal from Syria could occur. On top of that, the bill includes provision to place new sanctions on Syria and reauthorize $3.3 billion in military finance to Israel.
The bill passed through the Senate with a 77- 23 vote. Despite this, the bill must pass through the House of Representatives in order to become law. Skeptics are unsure as to whether or not the bill will pass through the House due to the Democratic majority. House Democrats are expected to pass the provisions relating to the security and military funding of Israel but are expected to reject the anti- boycott provision, citing boycott as a right of free speech protected by the Constitution. Nevertheless, it seems that the bill has support and opposition from both House Republicans and Democrats.
Do you think that the bill will successfully pass through the House of Representatives? If so, how do you think it will affect relations between the U.S. and Israel? Should the U.S. withdraw troops from Syria?
I don't think that the bill will successfully pass through the House of Representatives. If it won't, it will hurt relations with Israel. The U.S. should slowly withdraw troops from Syria. The bill should not be passed because it is a form of free speech to boycott.
ReplyDeleteNever say never. There is always the possibility that it could happen. However, the odds of it passing are not great. It infringes upon the right of free speech so there probably aren't going to be too many people in favor of that.
ReplyDeleteI very much so do not wish for this to pass through the House. I am unsure why the Senate passed such a bill honestly. It makes little sense to me for our government to punish businesses for choosing where and to whom they want to do business. I think our relationship with Israel has improved since Trump has been elected (whether or not that is a good thing). This is only one of the slew of pro-Israel bills that have been introduced recently and with the Israeli embassy placed in Jerusalem, I am more concerned about our relations with countries backing BDS. This poses a direct attack on Palestinians and their allies so I’ll be curious to see how this is received. As for the Syrian withdrawal, I do not believe ISIS has been defeated; however, I do not think it is a bad thing for our troops to return home.
ReplyDeleteI won't be surprised if the bill passes. If it does, it will probably help US-Israel relations, but if it doesn't, I don't think it will really hurt them. I agree that this is essentially an attack on the First Amendment; I thought this bill originally only applied to government employees, which would be reasonable considering that Israel is an ally to America, but now I see it in a very different light. The reason I think the bill is likely to pass is that, as far as I know, both mainstream Republicans and mainstream Democrats tend to support Israel.
ReplyDeleteBut not only do I think that this bill may violate the First Amendment, but I think it is undue pandering. I don't think suppressing individual freedoms just because an allied country benefits from it is a very American idea, and it certainly doesn't sound constitutional.
I also won't be surprised if this bill passes because it hinders Trump's ability to end our involvement in Syria; again, I'm pretty sure both mainstream party positions are against pulling out of Syria, so it makes sense that they would try to stop Trump from doing that. To summarize my ideas on Syria in a nutshell, I think that we should either commit to ending the conflict in Syria as quickly and effectively as possible (by whatever means necessary) or stay out of it--none of this murky half-war stuff where the conflict goes on for decades without making any clear progress whatsoever, and where the government doesn't ever tell us what on Earth we're even doing there (last time I heard, we were fighting a war in Syria on TWO fronts, fighting against ISIS insurgents AND Assad's forces, which are fighting each other as well).
In other words, you could say that I really don't like this bill, and though I hope it doesn't pass, I won't be surprised if it does.