Leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations on Monday hailed the groundbreaking Executive Order signed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo which “unequivocally rejects the BDS campaign and stands firmly with Israel.”

Cuomo announced the Executive Order on Sunday, and also said that he plans to put out a list of business and organizations that support BDS.

Stephen Greenberg, Chairman and Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO said on Monday, “Today, Gov. Cuomo called out the BDS movement for what it is – a hate driven ideology seeking to do harm to Israel and became the first U.S. governor to exercise executive authority to counter BDS.”

“The governor sent a strong, clear and direct message that New York will not do business with those who cave in to pressure from the BDS movement by refusing to do business with Israel.  Gov. Cuomo’s decisive action sets a standard all of our nation’s governors should emulate,” they added.

“The Conference of Presidents was honored to host the event where Gov. Cuomo announced and signed the executive order. We look forward to working with the governor and his administration as this new state policy is implemented and enforced.”

On Sunday, the UJA-Federation of New York applauded Cuomo for the initiative.

“UJA-Federation of New York applauds Governor Cuomo for being the first governor in the nation to issue an executive order directing state entities to divest all public funds supporting the Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel,” said UJA Federation of New York CEO Eric S. Goldstein in a statement.

“This executive order clearly demonstrates the discriminatory nature of BDS against the State of Israel and we are proud that the governor of New York State has taken this historic action to stand with Israel and reject the BDS movement,” he added.