Attorney General Brenna Bird today announced she is leading a coalition of 13 state attorneys general in a letter urging the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) and the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Netherlands) to stop their implementation of anti-Israel sanctions.
The UK and the Netherlands recently announced their intent to impose trade sanctions targeting certain economic activity in Israel. These restrictions on trade attempt to interfere with Israel’s political process and hurt their right to sovereignty. Additionally, by trying to affect Israel’s ability to conduct international trade, the UK and the Netherlands are aligning themselves with the policy objectives of anti-Israel and anti-American terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.
These sanctions will impact not only Israel, but the United States. Under U.S. law, as well as the law of many states, American companies are not allowed to engage in trade with companies or government organizations that boycott Israel. By enacting sanctions and excluding U.S. companies from trading with the UK and Netherlands, these nations are directly impacting American business owners’ economic opportunities and ability to trade.
“These sanctions are bad for American business,” said Attorney General Brenna Bird. “By limiting trade markets and imposing sanctions, Iowa’s economy will be hurt by countries choosing to align their policies with terrorist organizations instead of our closest ally in the Middle East. We are asking the UK and the Netherlands to end these sanctions and stop interfering with Americans’ ability to engage in international trade.”
Attorney General Brenna Bird is joined in signing this letter by the attorneys general of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, and South Carolina.
Read the full letter here.
