New Hampshire bans state contracts with companies involved in Israel boycotts

New Hampshire followed dozens of other states Thursday in prohibiting state contracts or investments involving companies that boycott Israel and its trade partners.

The executive order signed by Gov. Chris Sununu makes New Hampshire the 37th state to enact such regulations, according to the Israeli-American Coalition for Action. Shawn Evenhaim, the coalition’s chairman, praised Sununu for ‘standing up against national origin discrimination and defending the deep cultural and commercial ties between Israel and New Hampshire.’

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, however, condemned the order as ‘a total assault on our First Amendment rights.’ CAIR, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, has successfully challenged similar regulations in other states.

‘The government cannot tell Americans how to spend their money or who to financially support,’ the group’s senior litigation attorney Gadeir Abbas said in a statement. ‘Boycotts have been a part of American political life since the founding of our nation, and no state order attempting to ban or limit our right to boycott can be legitimate.’

Sununu was joined at the signing by Israel’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Gilad Erdan.

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