New York’s state government is considering a bill that would stop the state from hiring or investing in companies which boycott Israel.

Both houses of the New York State Legislature have begun examining the bipartisan bill, which would also involve dropping any pro-boycott companies currently in the pay of the state.

Democratic Senator Michael Gianaris, who co-sponsored the Senate bill, said its passage to becoming a fully-fledged law “should be easy.”

He added that he had introduced the bill because “anyone who says this is a legitimate movement should be condemned, and New York State should make a strong statement that we won’t encourage anyone or business that goes down that road.”

The New York Assembly passed a resolution against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement in June, while Illinois and South Carolina’s legislatures have also passed anti-BDS laws in the last year.

In their justification for putting the bill forward, Senators Gianaris and Martin Golden wrote: “The BDS movement is nothing more than thinly veiled antisemitism.

“This bill would ensure that New York continues its long history of standing up to discrimination by condemning this movement and not doing business with these companies.”