Thread by @LaraFriedmanDC

ICYMI, Janet Yellen’s response to Senate Finance Committee for the record re: BDS (page 40) does not sound like support for First Amendment rights of Americans or of free speech as a value around the world

finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/…

"President Biden has led efforts to oppose the delegitimization of Israel, whether in international organizations or by the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement in the United States…"

“...I support President Biden’s approach of opposing such efforts and ifconfirmed, ***will work as Treasury Secretary to oppose BDS activities directed at Israel.***"

Notable here: the question she as asked conflated US rejection of the coercive, govts-driven Arab League Boycott of Israel with boycotts, divestment, or calls for sanctions by *private individuals* as a matter of conscience.

Her answer directly validated this conflation.

This conflation is factually invalid and unconstitutional. Compliance with the Arab League Boycott of Israel is not a matter of free speech. A person boycotting Israel to protest policies they find abhorrent - that IS unequivocally political free speech.

If this question had been answered live during the hearing, and Yellen had answered this way, it would have been regrettable but one could maybe have hopes/argued she failed to understand the framing being presented.

The fact that this was her answer, in writing, suggests the Biden Admin has made a conscious decision to embrace false conflation between private boycott as a form of protest and coercive state-led boycotts. Which means a free speech exception when it comes to protest of Israel.

The implications of this are staggering, starting with the likely re-introduction of the misleadingly named “Israel Anti-Boycott Act” - a bill seeking to legislate this conflation in order to CRIMINALIZE differentiation between Israel & settlements.

Based on Yellen’s written answer, it is hard to see how the Biden Admin could oppose that bill.