DeSantis Claims Florida Most "Pro-Israel State" the US

Read on for some very interesting connections between Israel and Florida...

Ron DeSantis's close ties to Israel were the subject of my recent video below. I also point out that this year alone has seen an increase in actions to combat antisemitism at both the federal and state level. Before I get into the focus of this post, which is the Florida/Israel link, I’d like to remind you of my previous report about crucial federal government news in my previous post “Federal Agencies Clarify Protections Against Discrimination.”

As you know, for the last three years, businesses, schools, and government agencies have been discriminating based on religion for those who dare to worship God by breathing and keeping their body pure. Scientism is apparently now the official state religion, and heaven help you if you don't follow its teachings and rituals.

Those who have been following the widespread legal challenges against this overt religious discrimination will already know this. I’m grateful to have helped thousands of people keep their jobs without getting jabs (which violate their right to religious expression at the "WOKEplace”) through my many free teachings — so you could say that I am a leading educator on civil rights… and thus have a keen interest in helping people defend attacks based on certain characteristics, most notably ethnicity and religion.

The recent actions of many federal agencies are not the product of any new legislation, but they provide further clarification on the safeguards already in place under federal civil rights law, particularly Title VI of the US Civil Rights Act, which applies to entities receiving federal funding.

Although their main focus is combatting antisemitism, I think it’s great that they are now emphasizing these protections because this is a good thing for people of all faith backgrounds. If you want to read more, it’s linked below.

Moving on to today's post, DeSantis is on a quest to make Florida the most pro-Israel state in the United States (his words, not mine).

“DeSantis is expected to deliver a public address in Jerusalem on Thursday at the “Celebrate the Face of Israel” conference co-sponsored by The Jerusalem Post and The Museum of Tolerance. He will hold a press conference and meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and with Israeli companies interested in investing in Florida.

According to the governor’s office, Israel is the 19th-largest foreign investor in Florida, with bilateral trade totaling $651 million in 2022.

DeSantis visited Israel in 2019, when he took a strong stand in support of West Bank settlements, crossing the Green Line to make a stop at a Gush Etzion industrial park. His state has a strong history of standing by Israel including anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions legislation. During that trip, DeSantis said it was impossible to support BDS and be successful politically in Florida.

DeSantis arrived in Israel from Japan and South Korea and will head to Great Britain after his visit here.”

Just months after becoming governor, DeSantis convened his State cabinet in Jerusalem and he gave a definition of anti-semitism in line with the definition from the IHRA. The following are updates from the Governor’s website itself:

“At the event hosted by the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County, Governor DeSantis outlined three major steps Florida will take to stand with Israel. “Florida is the most Israel-friendly state in the country and we will not stand for discrimination against the Israeli people of any kind,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “By calling for increased security for our Jewish Day Schools, punishing companies that participate in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and taking my first trade mission to Israel, the Israeli People can be assured that they have no greater friend than Florida. BDS is nothing more than a cloak for anti-Semitism, and as long as I’m Governor, BDS will be DOA. I cannot wait to strengthen the already unwavering bond between Florida and the great state of Israel.”

“Today, Governor Ron DeSantis officially signed CS/CS/HB 741: Anti-Semitism into law following a ceremonial bill signing earlier this week in Jerusalem. The Governor was joined at the ceremonial bill signing on Wednesday, May 29^th by Attorney General Ashley Moody, Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, Agricultural Commissioner Nikki Fried, bill sponsor Representative Randy Fine, Senator Wilton Simpson, Representative Chris Sprowls, Senator Lauren Book, Representative Chip LaMarca, Representative Joseph Geller and FDEM Director Jared Moskowitz.

CS/CS/HB 741 adds religion as a protected class with regard to discrimination against students and employees in Florida’s K-20 public education system. The bill requires a public K-20 educational institution to treat discrimination by students or employees or resulting from institutional policies motivated by anti-Semitism in an identical manner to discrimination motivated by race.

The bill also adds a definition of anti-Semitism similar to the definition adopted by the U.S. Department of State’s Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, providing that “anti-Semitism” is a certain perception of Jewish people, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jewish people, rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism directed toward a person, his or her property, or toward Jewish community institutions or religious facilities.”

Remember: No Governor can make a law. DeSantis signed these provisions into law after the bill was passed by the Florida state legislature.

This bill added religion as a protected class with regard to discrimination against students and employees in Florida's K20 public education system. So it essentially is putting antisemitic acts on par with racially motivated hate crimes. I find it strange, because a hate crime already covers any act of violence targeting an individual or group based on any of the protected classes. It's interesting that the law's definition of antisemitism opens the door to the possibility that criticisms of Israel as a state and its policies may be deemed antisemitic. There are people of many faiths and no faith living in Israel. I'm sure the government isn't attempting to hide behind the Jewish people to do whatever it wants, and have the rest of the world see any criticism of the Israeli state as anti-semitic??

Courts provide the greatest level of protection under the First Amendment for speech on topics of public interest because this is the most fundamental form of political expression. H.B. 741's definition of anti-Semitism is pretty broad so there have already been concerns about its applications in regards to constitutionally protected speech critical of the Israeli government or supportive of Palestinian rights. It's interesting that this was happening in May of 2019 (just before the cooties hogwash) and then this year saw a substantial uptick in actions to combat antisemitism especially in the weeks prior to the Israel attack.

“Today, Governor Ron DeSantis visited Israel as part of his international trade mission where he signed House Bill 269 to provide law enforcement agencies with new enforcement mechanisms to punish perpetrators of antisemitic incidents and those who target religious communities. By signing HB 269, Governor DeSantis has once again made Florida a leader on protecting religious liberty and the State of Israel both in the United States and around the world.”

It’s my understanding that there is a large Jewish community in Florida so it makes sense that he would want to have this type of connection with his constituents, but what stuns me is that he actually went to Israel to sign the bill.

The image above from DeSantis’s twitter page appears to give the impression that somehow the Governor of Florida is now engaged in high-level diplomacy with Israel…

However, that is not the case at all. Of course, with DeSantis and Prime Minister Netanyahu engaged in a (looks to me Masonic) handshake, with the American and Israeli flags behind them, you would be forgiven to mistake this visit and exchange as some sort of diplomatic-mission-treaty-signing-agreement between Florida and Israel!

THAT is what is meant by optics: presenting an image to convey a desired meaning, and even more importantly, a desired emotion.

The truth is that in the US, diplomacy is conducted by the Executive Branch, and only the President has the authority to negotiate and sign treaties, which must also be confirmed by two-thirds of the Senate. States are prohibited from engaging in activities that involve international affairs since the Constitution does not grant them this authority. Because states are not countries, they cannot operate as "sovereign" states under international law. So you can’t have Israel and California or Florida and Ukraine creating any treaty or pact.

Although I am not making any assumptions or drawing any conclusions, wouldn't you agree that a layperson looking at these very official-looking images might assume that some sort of international agreement, treaty, or bilateral policy between Israel and Florida has just occurred?

I'd like you to watch my video and let me know what you think about DeSantis and this Israel/Florida connection. Is it something that can be safely ignored, or do we need to investigate further?

And be sure to join me daily on my youtube channel here at 4 pm pacific/7 pm eastern. (When you’re looking for past videos, you need to click on both these tabs: “live” and “videos” to see all my latest broadcasts.)

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