Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL). Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Israeli Economy and Industry Minister Eli Cohen met with US Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) in Washington, DC, on Nov. 15, and thanked him for introducing legislation in March that would combat the anti-Israel BDS movement.

The Israel Anti-Boycott Act currently has the support of 268 members of the US House of Representatives. The bill would prohibit boycotting Israeli companies, specifically those active within Judea and Samaria as well as the Golan Heights.

The bill states that it opposes a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution that “urges countries to pressure their own companies to divest from, or break contracts with, Israel, and calls for the creation of a ‘blacklist’ of companies that either operate, or have business relations with entities that operate beyond Israel’s 1949 armistice lines, including east Jerusalem.”

Cohen thanked Roskam for US support in preventing the anti-Semitic activities of boycotters. BDS movement supporters will find themselves facing a joint US-Israel economic front, which will stop the boycott attempts, Cohen said.

Roskam said he introduced the bill to promote shared Israeli-American interests. He warned members of Congress not to be misled or misinformed by the boycott movement, which aims to harm the “excellent” economic relations between the US and Israel.