US House advances bill to withhold federal funds from universities that boycott Israel

The US House of Representatives has advanced legislation blocking federal funding from universities that boycott Israel, with 33 moderate Democrats joining almost every one of their Republican colleagues in backing the measure.

After passing by a margin of 237 to 169, the Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act still needs to be passed by the Senate before becoming law.

House Democratic leadership opposed the bill over free speech concerns in addition to arguing that it broadly defined boycotts to include Israel’s settlements in the West Bank, which much of the international community deems illegal.

Explaining his opposition to the bill, House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries says, “Our Jewish brothers and sisters deserve safety and security on campuses across the nation, and I continue to oppose the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. Unfortunately, H.R. 4795 is a poorly written Republican bill that does not achieve that goal.”

“Instead, it would provide Donald Trump with the power to punitively launch political attacks on our colleges and universities, which are already under tremendous stress due to the toxic actions of this extreme Republican administration. When we are in the majority, House Democrats will advance unifying legislation to aggressively combat the rise of antisemitism and protect the Jewish community in America,” he adds.

Defending the bill, its Democratic cosponsor Rep. Josh Gottheimer told lawmakers during a speech before the vote that it “simply says that if your university takes federal taxpayer dollars, it can’t discriminate against academic partnerships or investments with one country.”