The White House on late Thursday issued a statement in which it announced it partially opposes a new bipartisan trade bill, specifying only one part of the bill that calls to strengthen bilateral economic ties with Israel and fight BDS efforts to boycott the Jewish state. The bill, entitled the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 or H.R.644, easily passed a bipartisan vote in Congress. According to the statement, US President Barack Obama intends to sign the bill into law.
However, the statement goes on to say: “As with any bipartisan compromise legislation, there are provisions in this bill that we do not support, including a provision that contravenes longstanding U.S. policy towards Israel and the occupied territories, including with regard to Israeli settlement activity.” No other opposition to the bill was expressed, indicating Obama’s particular rejection of the section against BDS and the labeling of Jewish goods from certain regions. Obama has given his backing to the recent EU decision to label Jewish goods from Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights. READ MORE
