Dozens of Israeli lawmakers voted against the measure, including Nitzan Horowitz. Horowitz said, “We are dealing with a legislation that is an embarrassment to Israeli democracy and makes people around the world wonder if there is actually a democracy here.

This is a blatant and a resounding shutting of people’s mouths. This is a thought police. There is no choice but to use this word. Fascism at its worst is raging,” he wrote.

The Jewish daily newspaper, The Forward, issued an editorial claiming “a boycott can be a legitimate use of non-violent protest to achieve a worthy goal.” The editors of the paper then drew a line through the sentence, along with several others, to illustrate the type of reasonable thoughts that will be punishable under the new law.

See and hear the Democracy Now! interview with Gal Beckerman.