Missoula's Laurie Franklin is a Jewish woman who opposes a "pro-Israel" bill moving through the Montana Legislature. Franklin says it feels strange to oppose House Bill 501:
"It is a difficult thing. It doesn't look good," she says.
HB-501 would ban Montana from doing business with companies that oppose Israel. It would do that by requiring the Montana Board of Investments to cut ties with companies supporting a pro-Palestinian movement to boycott Israel. Specifically, it targets what’s known as the "BDS Movement."
So what is BDS?
Bill sponsor and Montana House Speaker Austin Knudsen:
"BDS is a movement against the nation of Israel. It stands for 'Boycott,' 'Divestment' and 'Sanctions.' This is a movement that's moving across certain segments of the world and it's anti-Semitic; it's meant to target the nation of Israel."
On that count, Knudsen and Missoula's Laurie Franklin, who's the spiritual leader of Missoula's Har Shalom Synagogue, agree.
Franklin also has a problem with the BDS movement:
"I’m very much opposed to it. I think it's damaging to peace. I appreciate that people want to oppose 'Boycott, Divestment and Sanction.' In fact, I have worked with the support of Israeli consul general to the Pacific Northwest to counter the 'Boycott, Divest and Sanction' movement locally."
So, if Rabbi Franklin and Speaker Knudsen are on the same page regarding BDS, why does Franklin oppose his bill?
"It seeks to fix a problem we don't have," Franklin says. "We do not have BDS-supporting business partners in Montana's counties, cities and towns, nor are there significant numbers of them seeking to do business with us."
And Austin Knudsen says the director of the Montana Board of Investors backs that up; Montana has no business relationships with companies boycotting Israel. Knudsen wants to keep it that way. He says that can be done without trampling anyone's rights:
"If you want to boycott he nation of Israel, I'll be the first person to stand up and tell you that's your right under the First Amendment. But this body can set the policy that the State of Montana simply won't do business with you if you choose to exercise that First Amendment right. If you boycott the nation of Israel, our Board of Investment will not do business with you."
Knudsen says it's easy for someone to say he or she conditionally supports Israel. He argues that nation needs all the support it can muster:
"Israel is a nation standing by itself. It is a vibrant, thriving democracy despite being completely surrounded by enemies that want to drive them into the Mediterranean Sea. They have stood, the United States has stood with them; I think Montana as a state should stand with them," says Knudsen.
The bill's opponents, like Missoula's Laurie Franklin, say they stand with Israel and add it's a well-meaning idea. But they also wonder if it injects a political litmus test into the cost of doing business in Montana.
Speaking of cost, Franklin also wonders about the cost to review and vet companies that want to have a business relationship with Montana.
Rabbi Franklin says it's not fun to have to oppose something that’s meant as an act of solidarity with Israel:
"I was thinking to myself today about our great prophets; Isaiah and Jeremiah — you know, Jeremiah stood at the gates of the ancient city of Jerusalem and told people things they didn't want to hear. Sometimes you have to say things that on the face of them are not pleasant," Franklin says. "It is not pleasant to say that a bill that's purportedly pro-Israel is not a good bill, but I think this is not a good bill."
