Two Pennsylvania state senators, a Democrat and a Republican, will propose legislation to “uphold Pennsylvania’s steadfast support for Israel” by banning state Treasury or pension funds from divesting from the nation and companies that do business with it.
The soon-to-be-introduced law comes in response to a number of past calls for institutions to divest from Israel as it wages a war against Hamas.
“To that end, we must act to prevent our commonwealth, including our colleges and universities, from taking the wholly unwarranted action of divesting from Israel,” state Sens. Steve Santarsiero, a Democrat, and Kristin Phillips-Hill, a Republican, said Friday in a joint statement.
“Like America, Israel will not be bullied by detractors,” Phillips-Hill added, calling on all policymakers to act. “A strong and prosperous Israel needs a strong partner in the United States.”
State Treasurer Stacy Garrity supported the bill, saying that “there’s no question” that other state funds should be prohibited from divesting.
“I also agree with the senators that no university or college which divests from Israel should receive state funding,” she told the Center Square. “I urge the General Assembly to get this bill done quickly.”
Many campus pro-Palestinian protesters called for their respective universities to divest or disclose funding relating to Israel, but many refused or took other actions in response to the demands. Protesters at Stanford University went as far as to occupy their president’s office in their demands for the university to divest, but many were later charged with felony burglary.
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The bill reflects Pennsylvanian politicians’ support for Israel. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) has distanced himself from some of his Democratic colleagues with his strong pro-Israel stance, and Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) has shown similar support for the nation.
The University of Pennsylvania pointed to state law, indicating that there’s such a law that prevents it from divesting as protesters called for it to do so on their campus.