Israeli lawmaker to encourage Alabama to pass anti-boycott legislation

Bar will be traveling to Alabama and Georgia with Eeki Elner, founder of the Israel Leadership Institute in Sderot.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Updated: MARCH 31, 2016 23:54
Hilik Bar (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Hilik Bar
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Deputy Knesset Speaker Hilik Bar (Zionist Union) will address both houses of the Alabama State Legislature on the topic of Israel’s security challenges and US-Israel cooperation next week.
Alabama Lt.-Gov. Kay Ivey invited Bar to speak before a joint session of the Alabama Legislature “to further strengthen our ongoing relationship with Israel.
“Alabama is proud of our strong partnership with the State of Israel and we share your commitment to an even stronger and more meaningful relationship in the future,” Ivey wrote.
Bar said Thursday that he plans to encourage the legislators to fight boycotts against Israel as part of a commitment to a two-state solution, including passing laws against them, like California, South Carolina and Illinois have. Several other US states have passed declaratory resolutions opposing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
The Zionist Union MK will discuss the challenges Israel faces, “especially in days of terrorism against Israel and its citizens, in a Middle East stricken with terrorism and forces of evil and darkness that threaten our way of life.”
Bar also plans to call to strengthen US-Israel economic, business and diplomatic ties.
“I will continue defending Israel’s good name while fighting determinedly to separate from the Palestinians in two states for two nations,” he said.
Bar will be traveling to Alabama and Georgia with Eeki Elner, founder of the Israel Leadership Institute in Sderot, to help with fund-raising efforts.