New York City mayor Bill de Blasio rejected the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement as one which seeks to undermine Israel’s existence, during an event at the Hampton Synagogue in Westhampton Beach, New York.

“There are plenty of people who support BDS who have advanced degrees and who call themselves progressives,” he said to congregants on Saturday. “I look forward to challenging them, because it’s historical.”

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“We, in the United States, or in any nation, you can disagree with a particular government’s policy at that moment in time, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t believe in that nation or its right to exist or its founding ideals,” he added