The House GOP has dropped a bill that sought to criminalize anti-Israel boycotts after backlash from conservatives over the clearly unconstitutional nature of such legislation.

The International Governmental Organization (IGO) Anti-Boycott Act was a bipartisan bill brought by Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) that would ban Americans from supporting boycotts imposed by global entities against U.S. allies.

While Israel isn't specifically mentioned, it's clear that this bill is meant to target anti-Israel boycotts run by leftist activist groups in support of the Palestinian cause.

This bill quickly received backlash from conservatives who blasted it for violating Americans’ First Amendment rights to boycott and criticize allied countries.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) led the charge against the bill by saying, "Americans have the right to boycott, and penalizing this risks free speech. I reject and vehemently condemn antisemitism but I cannot violate the first amendment."

Constitution upheld

The failure of this bill may surprise many who expected the typically pro-Israel GOP to stand behind this bill that would have criminalized anti-Israel boycotts.

This bill would modify the Anti-Boycott Act of 2018 to expand its authority and prevent American or U.S. businesses from participating in boycotts organized by international entities, including the United Nations and the European Union.

Any doubt that this legislation was designed to protect Israel was dispelled by Representative Lawler's ongoing feud with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement run by leftist pro-Palestinian activists.

Lawler stated that this new bill would close "a critical loophole by ensuring that international organizations cannot enable harmful BDS efforts," further reinforcing that this bill is designed to protect Israel in particular.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, also blasted Lawler's bill by saying, "It is my job to defend Americans’ rights to buy or boycott whomever they choose without the government harshly fining them or imprisoning them."

While Republicans are eager to counter anti-Semitism propagated by the Democrat Party, there is no justification for infringing on Americans' freedoms to protect a foreign country.

Rising anti-semitism

The issue of anti-Semitism against Jewish Americans has been growing increasingly worse thanks to leftist figures who have openly championed grossly anti-semitic ideas that sound like they came out of 1930s Germany.

However, the solution to leftist anti-Semitism isn't to legislate thought, which is fundamentally anti-American and at odds with conservative thinking.

Rep. Thomas Massie pointed this out in defending his decision to be the lone vote against a bill condemning anti-Semitism by stating, "Legitimate government exists, in part, to punish those who commit unprovoked violence against others, but government can’t legislate thought."

The GOP will need to find a more nuanced way to combat anti-Semitism from Democrats without resorting to regressive and anti-American thought policing.