Last week, five state lawmakers visited Israel on an Israeli government-sponsored trip. The delegation, which included more than 250 legislators from across the U.S., was organized in part to advocate for laws that protect Israel from boycotts.
The trip, organized by the Israeli Consulate to the Pacific Northwest and Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was not publicized and was planned about a month in advance.
The lawmakers’ visit happened the same week the United Nations designated Israel’s actions in Gaza as a genocide and as the country sent ground troops into Gaza. According to the UN, more than 65,000 Palestinians, including 17,000 children, have been killed by Israel since the October 2023 terror attacks.
The conference trip included a tour of holy sites and a visit to the festival site where Hamas killed more than 1,200 civilians in 2023 and took hundreds more hostage. Lawmakers met with Israeli officials, like the Prime Minister and President of Israel.
“What are Idahoans’ interests in meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu and Isaac Herzog?” asked activist Shiva Rajbhandari. “I don't know. There are none. No Idahoans’ interests were served.”
The trip was part of an Israeli initiative called “50 States, One Israel,” advocating for anti-boycott laws to be passed in the U.S.
“This was our legislators taking essentially a bribe from the Israeli government to impose speech restricting legislation upon us so that we cannot advocate for justice in Palestine,” said Rajbhandari, strongly condemning lawmakers’ participation.
“This was not just an educational tour. This was a covert effort of the Israeli government to basically control Idaho politics,” he added.
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is a non-violent Palestinian-led movement started in the early 2000s calling for the boycott of organizations that do business with Israel.
Inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement, the goal is to pressure the country into withdrawing from Palestinian territories and providing equal rights to Jewish and Arab citizens.
Idaho’s anti-BDS law, passed in 2021, requires that contractors that do business with the state sign a certification that they are not engaged in a boycott of Israeli goods. It does not apply to contracts under $100,000 or with companies with fewer than 10 employees.
Speaking to the lawmakers in Jerusalem last week, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar thanked the roughly 30 American states, including Idaho, that have already passed anti-BDS legislation.
“The boycotters must be boycotted. Those who delegitimize must themselves be delegitimized. The tools may be new, but the name of this campaign is very ancient. It is anti-Semitism,” Sa’ar said, calling boycotts economic warfare.
“Attempts to use violence and silencing to settle differences must be denounced. This phenomenon uses harassment, threats and attempts to bully and scare political opponents into silence,” he added.
As Idaho’s “Anti-Boycott Against Israel Act” was being considered, ACLU’s Lauren Bramwell argued against it, saying boycotts were a nonviolent form of collective expression protected under the First Amendment right.
“Indeed, consumer boycotts have played a critical role in the founding of the United States and in the dismantling of Jim Crow laws,” she said.
Activists have called for the five legislators from Idaho to resign, including House Minority leader Rep. Ilana Rubel (D-Boise), Barbara Ehardt (R- Idaho Falls), Josh Tanner (R-Eagle), Bruce Skaug (R-Nampa) and John Shirts (R-Weiser).
“They wanted to bring people from all across, both Republicans and Democrats, from across the country [...] so I did not feel like there was an overall agenda item. I don't think there's anything coming back to Idaho that you're going to see a bunch of bills getting drafted or passed,” said Tanner on Thursday, adding that he would not be resigning from his position.
Speaking to Boise State Public Radio upon her return, Rubel said she will not be stepping down either.
“I was intrigued by this idea to be able to discuss some of this with Israel's top leadership and, frankly, to convey some of my concerns about the civilian death toll in Gaza to people at high levels,” she said.
She acknowledged some aspects of the trip were propaganda. Rubel added that her participation was not an endorsement of the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza nor of anti-boycott laws.
“Insofar as that was the agenda for this trip, I'm already on record as not being on board with that,” she said. “I think that boycotts are a protected form of free speech, and that it's an inappropriate role for the state to be trying to stop people from engaging in boycotts.”
Before Idaho’s anti-BDS law passed, Rubel argued against the bill when it came up on the Senate floor in 2021.
“It really frightens me to see the state using its massive consumer power as the elephant in the room, that everybody has to do business with. They can basically force people and what they can say and what they can't say by withholding or bestowing that consumer spending power,” she said.
On Tuesday, Rubel said the trip was an opportunity to engage in dialogue with people on the ground and express her worries directly to Israeli officials.
“I'm concerned about the death toll in Gaza. We all see that news, and I am Jewish and I'm a descendant of Holocaust refugees,” she said. "And frankly, I'm concerned about the survival of Israel as well, given the extent to which world opinion is turning against it.”
Representatives Shirts, Skaug and Ehardt did not respond to requests for comment.
