Sec. 2. Findings

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Congress finds the following: The United Nations Human Rights Council (in this section referred to as the UNHRC ) has long targeted Israel with systematic, politically motivated, assaults on its legitimacy designed to stigmatize and isolate Israel internationally. The UNHRC maintains a permanent agenda item known as Item 7 to ensure that Israel will be criticized at every gathering of the UNHRC. At its 31st session on March 24, 2016, the UNHRC targeted Israel with a commercial boycott, calling for the establishment of a database, such as a blacklist , of companies that operate, or have business relations with entities that operate, beyond Israel’s 1949 Armistice lines, including East Jerusalem.

For a half century, Congress has combated anti-Israel boycotts and other discriminatory activity under the Export Administration Act of 1979 ( 50 U.S.C. 4601 et seq. ) (as continued in effect under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act ( 50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq. )), under part VI of title X of the Tax Reform Act of 1976 ( Public Law 94–455 ; 90 Stat. 1649) (commonly referred to as the Ribicoff Amendment ), in free trade agreements with Bahrain and Oman, and in Saudi Arabia’s accession negotiations to the World Trade Organization.

The recent action of the UNHRC is reminiscent of the Arab League Boycott, which also called for the establishment of a blacklist and promoted a primary, as well as a secondary and tertiary, boycott against Israel, targeting United States and other companies that trade or invest with or in Israel, and designed to harm Israel, any business operating in, or doing business, with Israel, or companies that do business with companies operating in Israel. Congress recently passed anti-boycott, divestment, and sanctions measures in the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 (title I of Public Law 114–26 ; 19 U.S.C. 4201 et seq. ) and section 909 of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 ( 19 U.S.C. 4452 ), which establish, among other things— the opposition of the United States to boycott, divestment, and sanctions activity targeting Israel; requirements that the United States utilize trade negotiations to combat state-led or international governmental organization-led boycott, divestment, and sanctions activity targeting Israel; and reporting requirements regarding the actions of foreign countries or international organizations that establish barriers to trade or investment for United States companies in or with Israel.

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