Gove expected to unveil anti-BDS bill in parliament on Monday

A long-promised government bill aimed at banning councils from imposing boycotts on Israeli goods is to be tabled in parliament.

The proposed legislation aims to prevent public bodies from adopting their own approach to international relations including through sanctions and divestment campaigns.

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) bill was first set out in the Queen’s Speech last year following a commitment in Boris Johnson’s 2019 Conservative general election manifesto.

Communities Secretary Michael Gove will introduce legislation on Monday.

He told the Sunday Telegraph: “It is simply wrong that public bodies have been wasting taxpayers’ time and money pursuing their own foreign policy agenda.“The UK must have a consistent approach to foreign policy, set by UK government.

“These campaigns not only undermine the UK’s foreign policy but lead to appalling antisemitic rhetoric and abuse. That is why we have taken this decisive action to stop these disruptive policies once and for all.”

Appearing on television on Sunday, Gove said BDS “makes antisemitism more of threat to Jewish people in this country” and added “we need to take action.”

At the UK Israel Embassy’s Israel 75 event last week in London, trade minister Kemi Badenoch said in her speech:”“This government will ban public bodies from pursuing boycott, divestment and sanctions activities. We will ban those activities, including at universities and local authorities.”

Controversial Israeli minister Amichai Chikli tweeted his support for Gove’s move on Sunday writing “this is how you fight antisemitism: without blinking, without stuttering, and without bowing your head to the waves of lies and hatred. ”

The Bill will give the Government the power to ban public bodies which are already subject to public procurement rules from conducting their own boycott campaigns against foreign countries and territories.

It will also stop them from taking a different line from the Government on sanctions and foreign relations.The Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council are among the mainstream communal organisations to welcome the bill. 

On Monday, the Board said: “We are pleased to support the Government’s endeavours in the Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters Bill) which will directly hinder the unnecessary and inappropriate targeting of Israel by local authorities and other public institutions.

“We appreciate how the Government is working to prevent these organisations from setting their own foreign policy, which all too often creates a deeply divisive local situation as well as being deeply unsettling to local Jewish communities.“

But other Jewish groups, including Yachad are expected to raise concerns about the legislation, alongside civil society organisations such as Liberty. 

Opponents of the bill will say it represents a further attack on the right to freedom of expression, and could impact on campaigns such as those to back the Uyghurs, who face discrimination under the Chinese government.

Some critics claim the bill, if made law, will for the first time mean that UK law treats both Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories as the same entity, in contrast to long-standing foreign office policy.

In February the Union of Jewish Students passed a motion stating that while they did not support the BDS movement, they were worried about the scope of the bill.

Youth movement leaders of Noam Masorti Youth, RSY-Netzer, LJY-Netzer, and Habonim Dror also wrote to the Board and JLC to voice their concerns about the bill.

But in a joint letter, Board president Marie van der Zyl and JLC chair Keith Black responded earlier this year saying:”We do not share your assessment on the effect of the proposed legislation.

“The current legislation being proposed would prevent public bodies from boycotting a specific state or territory. This means that as such, a university, for example, could still have a social justice policy but they could not have a policy against one particular country and no other, which almost always seems to be Israel.

“Contrary to certain claims, there is no indication that this legislation will stifle any social justice movements.”

Labour leader Keir Starmer has said  the party does not support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement but asked about the new bill a party spokesperson said:  “We haven’t seen the Bill yet so will have to study it, but we have always opposed BDS and tabled an amendment to the public procurement bill last year to prevent councils from singling out Israel for special treatment.

“We were disappointed that the Conservative government didn’t support it.”