Congressman Randy Fine tells C14’s Sophia Tupolev that the United Kingdom’s newly announced sanctions on Israel will trigger an existing Florida law that bars companies boycotting Israel from doing business in the state, a consequence he says British firms have not fully reckoned with. Speaking with C14 a day after the UK said eleven other countries were joining it in sanctioning Israel, Fine pointed to the anti-BDS bill he authored as a Florida state legislator in 2018. The law blocks any company engaged in a boycott of Israel from contracting with state or local government, and from obtaining the permits, licenses, or tax clearances many businesses need to operate.
Fine said the law was tested in 2019, when Airbnb moved to boycott listings in parts of Judea and Samaria. He said the company reversed course within months rather than lose access to Florida, its largest market. Under the statute, companies must certify they are not participating in a boycott before doing business with the state; once the UK sanctions take effect, Fine said, British firms would no longer be able to make that certification.
1+He noted the UK measures carry a six-to-nine-month delay before taking force, which he said gives companies a narrow window to still sign the required certification. Florida is not alone. Fine said 38 US states have adopted similar anti-boycott laws since 2018, and that the combined economic weight of states like Florida and Texas already exceeds the UK’s.
If those states enforce their statutes in parallel, he said, the effect on British companies doing business in the US could be severe. On a federal response, Fine was skeptical that Congress would act, saying support for Israel among Democrats has eroded to the point where a bill would struggle to reach 60 votes in the Senate. He said any federal move was more likely to come from the White House, adding that President Trump has already signaled displeasure with the UK’s decision.
1+Fine, a member of the Sharia Free America Caucus, also discussed the group’s legislative priorities, including a push to bar the use of Sharia law in US courts and to strip nonprofit status from organizations he described as fronts for designated terrorist groups. He framed the UK’s sanctions as part of a broader ideological contest, describing Israel as central to what he called a wider conflict over Western civilization.