Cruz, Colleagues Call on Blinken to Reverse Biden Administration’s New Antisemitic Israel Boycott

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling on him to rescind discriminatory guidance issued by the State Department halting bilateral scientific and technological cooperation in certain Israeli-held territories.

The following Senators joined Sen. Cruz as cosigners of the letter: Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), and Sen. Wicker (R-Miss.).

In the letter, Sen. Cruz said:

“The guidance does something America has never done before: unilaterally impose territorial restrictions on U.S. scientific research aid to Israel. Decades ago, the U.S. and Israel bilaterally agreed to such limits against the backdrop of unique regional conditions, but in 2020 both sides rescinded and rejected them as discriminatory.

“The new guidance as written constitutes an antisemitic boycott of Israel. The American people and Congress broadly and deeply oppose boycott efforts against Israel, which have been repeatedly defined in U.S. law as efforts to limit commercial with persons doing business in any territories controlled by Israel… The State Department’s own Special Envoy To Monitor and Combat Antisemitism was excluded from deliberations over this guidance and did not clear it. This guidance in particular puts Americans’ safety, security, and prosperity at risk because it politicizes and undermines cooperation on science and technology, including in areas such as defense and medicine where also our Israeli allies have proven themselves critical partners.”

Read the full text of the letter here.

Sen. Cruz has been the preeminent fighter in the U.S. Senate to preserve the U.S.-Israel relationship. He has previously condemned the new boycott implemented by the Biden administration’s recent guidance.