


Andrew Cuomo (Mike Pont/WireImage/Getty Images)
Andrew Cuomo (Mike Pont/WireImage/Getty Images)


A handful of states already had passed similar measures opposing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. So had the New York State Senate, though the State Assembly version has been stalled since last year. Cuomo’s order, signed Sunday, was merely supposed to speed up the “tedious” voting process, as he said at the signing ceremony Sunday, just before New York’s annual Celebrate Israel parade.


Like anti-BDS measures passed in other states, Cuomo’s order bans New York state agencies and departments from investing in companies or groups that promote or engage in boycotts, divestment or sanctions against Israel as policy. The order also requires the state to draw up a public list of companies that engage in or promote BDS.

Cuomo’s order stands out, however, as it enacts opposition to BDS in the fourth-most populous state, and the home to the largest number of Jews in the country. And it places Cuomo, a prominent governor and national figure, at the center of the American debate over Israel.




Seven states, including Alabama, Colorado and Illinois, have passed measures like New York’s, according to Americans for Peace Now. Lawmakers in more than 20 states have proposed similar legislation. But in Cuomo’s executive order, pro-Israel activists see a precedent that can work where bills are stalled.


“We’re already seeing a lot of states attempt to pass anti-BDS legislation,” said Noam Gilboord, Israel and international affairs director for the New York Jewish Community Relations Council. “What this executive order does is open another channel for enacting such legislation, should there be difficulties doing so through the legislature.”

But Cuomo also has drawn criticism for enacting a measure his state legislature did not pass. Rebecca Vilkomerson, executive director of Jewish Voice for Peace, said Cuomo “is trying to hold on to a consensus that doesn’t exist anymore” in support of Israel.



Opponents of the executive order believe their best chance could be in court. They cite legal experts who have said the measure unconstitutionally infringes on First Amendment rights: Because boycotts are a form of free speech, some experts argue, New York’s state government cannot deny government contracts to companies engaging in boycotts. Activists also have objected to the public list of companies that engage in BDS, with some comparing it to McCarthyism.


Eugene Kontorovich, a Northwestern University law professor who has consulted with anti-BDS groups, said the measure is mostly constitutional because it is similar to statutes prohibiting discrimination against gays and lesbians. He added that the government needs a list of companies to execute the order, and that making that list public is more transparent than keeping it secret.



JTA Wire Service

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