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Netanyahu Lauds Cuomo For Taking Lead Against BDS

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally expressed his deep appreciation to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for taking the lead as the first executive in the United States to take immediate action to fight the BDS movement against Israel.

“Please accept my deep personal appreciation for initiating New York’s pioneering executive order against anti-Israeli boycotts,” Netanyahu wrote in a letter to Cuomo on Tuesday. “An executive order by the governor of one of America’s most important and influential states demonstrates to the world that our American friends are behind us.”

On Sunday, Cuomo signed the first of a kind executive order that orders New York state agencies to divest themselves of companies and organizations who support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against the state of Israel. “In New York, we lead by example. We are also a place of action. We want to take immediate action because we want Israel to know that we are on their side,” Cuomo said during a speech, attended by Jewish leaders and hosted by the Conference of Presidents, at The Harvard Club. “If you boycott against Israel, New York will boycott you.”

The executive order commands the commissioner of the Office of General Services to compile a list over the next six months of businesses and groups engaged in “boycott, divestment or sanctions activity targeting Israel, either directly or through a parent or subsidiary.” Once the process is completed, all executive-branch agencies and departments will be required to divest themselves of any company on the list to be made public.

“By acting so resolutely against BDS, you have shown exceptional moral leadership, and New York has significantly bolstered the strong American front against this hateful campaign,” Netanyahu wrote in his letter.

Netanyahu letter to cuomo

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