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U.S. Helped Thwart Irish Effort to Boycott Israel
(Washington Free Beacon) Adam Kredo - The Irish Parliament was poised last week to pass legislation that would make it a crime for Irish citizens to purchase products made in contested areas of Israel, in a move seen as part of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement. State Department officials are said to have warned Irish leaders that the bill would subject them to inclusion on a list of countries supporting boycotts of Israel. The bill was ultimately tabled until the summer. A senior official at a major pro-Israel organization said, "This law was a done deal in Ireland. It was going to pass, and there would have been this insane situation where the Irish would be sending people to jail for buying souvenirs in the Old City." Eugene Kontorovich, a law professor at Northwestern University, noted, "The Irish bill will pose a grave threat for U.S. companies with headquarters in Ireland, or U.S. subsidiaries of Irish companies. All will be forced to effectively boycott Israeli companies, putting them in violation of U.S. anti-boycott laws passed in the 1970s."