NY says state’s anti-BDS order doesn’t apply to UK, Canada boycotts

The State of New York says that an order barring the state from doing business with entities that back the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement targeting Israel does not apply to foreign governments.

The UK, Canada and other countries announced a ban on trade with Israeli settlements last week. Experts have said that, while nominally targeting settlements, the boycott could have far-reaching effects on Israel’s economy.

Then-New York governor Andrew Cuomo enacted an executive order in 2016 that requires the state to withdraw assets from entities that support BDS.

The administration of Cuomo’s successor, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, says the order does not apply to the countries boycotting settlements, however, because state agencies cannot invest in foreign governments.

“Foreign governments do not fall into the category of entities that the State could invest in,” the state’s Office of General Services tells the Gothamist news outlet.

Hochul, a moderate Democrat, is generally supportive of Israel and has kept Cuomo’s anti-BDS order in place since she took office in 2021.

She is running for reelection against Jewish Republican Bruce Blakeman, who has hammered Hochul over her cooperative relationship with New York City’s anti-Zionist mayor, Zohran Mamdani.