Bill encouraging lawsuits against BDS clears Knesset hurdle

The bill would allow anyone harmed by calls to boycott Israel or the settlements to sue without proof of damages.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Updated: NOVEMBER 6, 2017 01:18
CHEF SHAUL Ben Aderet offers chocolate mousse to BDS protesters outside the Roundhouse Theatre. (photo credit: SHAHAR AZRAN)
CHEF SHAUL Ben Aderet offers chocolate mousse to BDS protesters outside the Roundhouse Theatre.
(photo credit: SHAHAR AZRAN)
Legislation making it easier to sue people who encourage boycotts of Israel or the settlements was approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation on Sunday.
Drafted by Likud MK Yoav Kisch and backed by Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan, the bill would allow anyone harmed by calls to boycott Israel or the settlements to sue without proof of damages. “Major boycott activists, who dedicate all of their time to severely harming citizens of Israel and the Israeli economy, must know that they may pay a heavy economic price for the damage they cause to the state,” said Erdan.
The bill brings back an article from the 2011 Boycott Law – which the Supreme Court canceled – that stated that anyone who incurred damages from boycotts of or calls to boycott Israel or any geographic area of Israel could sue without proof of damages. The Supreme Court struck the waiver of proof of damages. Since the Boycott Law was passed, No one has invoked the Boycott Law yet to sue – the new bill hopes to change that. The revised legislation seeks to remedy the problems that the Supreme Court had with the previous article not requiring proof of damages in that it applies only to damages claims of up to NIS 100,000 and not to a one-time expression of support for boycotts. “The time has come for the state to have the ability to counter the economic force behind the BDS movement and its satellites, and anyone who calls to boycott Israel and its citizens,” said Kisch. “We won’t stop until this phenomenon is completely eradicated.”