The British government on Tuesday moved to ban the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, the Jewish Chronicle reported.
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London's Parliament passed an amendment stopping local authority pension funds from backing BDS sanctions against British companies doing business with Israel, despite protests from some Labour MPs.
Conservative MP Rob Jenrick introduced the amendment that gives the government new powers to direct local pension funds to not make decisions that conflict with London's foreign and defense policy.
"BDS against Israel is all too often connected to antisemitism here in the UK and does nothing to promote peace and is increasingly out of step with the mood in the Middle East following the Abraham Accords, whereby a number of Gulf states are forging productive links with Israel," Jenrick told the Chronicle after the vote.
Jenrick continued: "It is unacceptable for local councils to be making divisive foreign policy interventions contrary to the position of the UK Government. I am delighted that my amendment has passed and will be the first step in legislation outlawing BDS in the UK. I hope it presages a wider Bill in the forthcoming Queen's Speech tackling BDS throughout the public sector."
The amendment passed on the same day that the Hertfordshire County Council rejected a bid to divest from Israeli-linked companies, saying that it was out of their purview.
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The Board of Deputies of British Jews, Hertfordshire Jewish Forum and the Jewish Leadership Council issued a joint statement thanking the Hertfordshire County Council for dismissing the petition.
"We thank Hertfordshire County Council for continuing to focus on the priorities of local government and rejecting the self-indulgent grandstanding of BDS," the statement said. "The authority has sent a clear signal that the county's Jewish residents do not have to worry about divisive politics stirring up trouble locally."
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
