A decade of Florida laws on Israel, boycotts and antisemitism.
The records show who passed them, and very little about how they are enforced.

Created s. 215.4725, F.S. It directs the State Board of Administration (SBA), which invests Florida Retirement System money, to identify companies it holds or could hold that boycott Israel, publish a 'Scrutinized Companies that Boycott Israel' list every quarter, and notify each listed company. A company that ends its boycott within 90 days comes off the list. Otherwise the fund may not buy the company's securities directly. Indirect holdings such as index funds, and exchange-traded funds, are excluded, and the fund may resume investing if the restriction would cut total fund value to 99.5% or less of what it would otherwise be. The 2016 law barred new purchases only; a mandatory sale (divestment) requirement was added to s. 215.4725 later, by ch. 2023-111. The law also amended s. 287.135, F.S. As passed, it barred listed or boycotting companies from bidding on or getting state or local contracts of $1 million or more, and required contractors at that level to certify that they do not boycott Israel. A false certification carries a civil penalty of $2 million or twice the contract value, whichever is greater, plus a 3-year bidding ban. The boycott definition covers dealings with Israel and with Israeli-controlled territories, and excludes boycotts imposed by foreign countries.

No appropriation. Fixed dollar figures in the law: a $1 million contract threshold (removed in 2018) and a false-certification penalty of the greater of $2 million or twice the contract amount.

The SBA started the list on Aug. 2, 2016. Four companies first classified that day are still on it: Betsah Invest SA, Betsah SA, Cactus SA and Guloguz Dis Deposu. Co-operative Group Ltd (UK) was added Sept. 26, 2017. The Cabinet put Airbnb on the list on Jan. 29, 2019, and DeSantis announced its removal on June 4, 2019, after Airbnb reversed its West Bank listing policy. Unilever and its affiliates were listed starting July 29, 2021, over Ben & Jerry's West Bank decision. The SBA stopped buying Unilever securities; the state held about $139 million in Unilever and its subsidiaries at the time, and the law then in force did not require a sale. Unilever stayed on the list until Dec. 17, 2025, when it was removed and the newly spun-off Magnum Ice Cream Co. (Ben & Jerry's new parent) was added. Storebrand ASA (Norway) was added Dec. 17, 2024.

Dropped the $1 million floor from the 2016 contracting ban as it applied to Israel boycotts. Companies on the Israel boycott list, or engaged in a boycott of Israel, could no longer bid on or get state or local contracts of any size, and contractors had to certify at any contract amount. From July 1, 2018, new and renewed contracts of every size had to include a clause allowing termination on those grounds.

No appropriation.

No individual enforcement actions found.

Extended the 2016 law beyond companies to 'other entities': educational institutions, nonprofits, state agencies, local governments and foreign governments (including their public investment, pension and sovereign wealth funds). The list's name now adds 'or Other Entities.' The law adds an 'academic boycott' definition: a school's policies limiting academic ties because of Israel connections count, and so does action by any department or center. For a foreign school, a boycott by a recognized faculty union counts. State university endowment and retirement funds must follow the same sale and no-purchase rules as the SBA, and they and the SBA may not buy or hold debt of listed foreign governments. Applicants for Department of State arts and culture grants must certify that they will not boycott Israel or engage in antisemitic discrimination or speech on the project. Violators lose grant eligibility for 10 years, and a recipient found to have boycotted or discriminated owes three times the grant. If the Attorney General has not acted within 90 days, anyone may file a written complaint, and the AG must answer within 30 days. The 90-day cure period before divestment stays. Contracting: the enrolled bill and the 2025 Florida Statutes set the threshold at $100,000. Listed or boycotting companies and entities are barred from state and local contracts of $100,000 or more. Before this law they were barred at any amount, so smaller contracts are now allowed. The certification requirement (s. 287.135(5)) still applies at any contract amount.

No appropriation. Fixed dollar figures in the law: a $100,000 contract threshold (enrolled text and 2025 s. 287.135(2)(a)), a penalty of three times the grant amount for arts-grant violators, and the existing false-certification penalty of $2M or twice the contract amount. The House final bill analysis estimated an indeterminate negative fiscal impact and said agency notification costs could likely be absorbed.

The SBA's Sept. 30, 2025 list rose to 109 names: 18 companies and 91 newly added non-company entities. The new entries include universities in Europe, South Africa and Turkey; foreign governments including Turkey, Qatar, Slovenia, Colombia and Scotland (the national government of Spain was added Feb. 24, 2026; Spanish regions, cities and universities were listed in Sept. 2025); universities such as Trinity College Dublin; U.S. cities including Dearborn MI, Portland ME and Iowa City IA; and groups such as the American Anthropological Association, Middle East Studies Association, Quakers in Britain and the United Church of Canada. The Dec. 17, 2025 list has 98 names and the June 9, 2026 list 100. The Algemeiner reported that StandWithUs asked the SBA in Dec. 2025 to investigate Guinness World Records; no SBA action was found.

Amended s. 1000.05, F.S., the anti-discrimination law for Florida's public K-20 system, in two ways. It added religion as a protected category, and it requires public schools, colleges and universities to treat antisemitic discrimination in an identical manner to discrimination motivated by race. It writes in a definition of antisemitism with examples. Some examples involve Israel: demonizing Israel, holding Israel to a double standard, or denying its right to exist. The law states that criticism of Israel like criticism of any other country is not antisemitic, and that it does not reduce First Amendment rights.

No appropriation.

We found no public record of any specific discrimination finding or disciplinary case decided under the definition.

Requires public-school Holocaust lessons to cover the policy, definition and examples of antisemitism and how to prevent it. School districts must certify every year that they meet the requirement. The law also names the second week of November Holocaust Education Week. The same bill dealt with the 1920 Ocoee election-day riots.

None stated.

The Florida Department of Education issues annual Holocaust Education Week proclamations.

Created s. 1.015, F.S., a statewide definition of antisemitism that adopts the working definition the IHRA approved May 26, 2016,, with a non-exclusive list of examples, several of them about Israel. Its stated purpose is to help monitor and report antisemitic hate crimes and discrimination. It creates no crime or penalty and does not amend the hate-crime statute. It states that criticism of Israel like criticism of any other country is excluded, and that it does not reduce First Amendment rights.

No appropriation.

No record found of an agency formally using the s. 1.015 definition in a specific case.

Created or toughened several crimes. Each is a first-degree misdemeanor and becomes a third-degree felony when it includes a credible threat. They are: dumping litter on private property to intimidate the people there; harassing someone because they wear or display symbols of their religious or ethnic heritage (new s. 784.0493); projecting images onto a building without the owner's written permission; entering a state college or university campus without authorization to threaten someone and refusing to leave (new s. 810.098, misdemeanor only); and willfully and maliciously disturbing a school, a worship service, a gathering held to mark someone's death, or another lawful assembly (raised from a second-degree misdemeanor). Violations that get hate-crime enhancement must be reported as hate crimes. The text never mentions Israel, Jews or antisemitism by name. It responded to antisemitic flyer drops, building projections and banners in Florida.

No appropriation. State economists (Criminal Justice Impact Conference) projected a 'positive indeterminate' effect on prison beds.

No prosecution under the new provisions was confirmed in this pass. The best-known related case, neo-Nazi Jon Minadeo's Palm Beach County littering conviction (30 days in jail, Nov. 2023), came from conduct in March 2023, before the law took effect; WPTV reported the offense missed HB 269 by months.

Created s. 1001.2921, F.S. It sets up a standing Department of Education program, subject to appropriation, that pays for security at full-time Jewish day schools and preschools. Each year's amount is whatever the budget provides. Spending must follow a risk assessment done by police or a private security company. Allowed uses include cameras, lighting, fencing, shatter-resistant windows, licensed guards, transportation that reduces exposure, and other security services. The law sets no dollar amount; Florida Politics noted the bill on its own makes no monetary commitment.

Each item below is a separate, differently measured figure; do not add them. (a) Line-item budget appropriations before the law (Senate analysis): FY2017-18 $654,491; FY2018-19 $2M; FY2019-20 $2.5M; FY2020-21 $2.5M; FY2021-22 $4M; FY2022-23 $4M; FY2023-24 $5M. (b) Nov. 2023 Special Session C appropriation (CS/HB 7-C, ch. 2023-352): $15M in fixed capital outlay for hardening plus $10M for non-hardening security, $25M in total for Jewish day schools and preschools; DeSantis's office said in Jan. 2024 that 134 schools had received $25M. The same bill also gave $20M to the Division of Emergency Management's Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which is open to any at-risk nonprofit and is not Jewish-specific. (c) FY2024-25: $20M, per a House staff analysis cited by the News Service of Florida and DeSantis's May 2024 statement. (d) FY2025-26: $10M through end-of-session 'sprinkle list' add-ons ($7.5M Senate, $2.5M House) per Florida Politics; DeSantis had recommended $9M. (e) FY2026-27: the Governor's budget-highlights document lists $20M (school safety section) and $9M (combatting antisemitism section) for Jewish day schools and preschools, without saying whether the two overlap.

Funds have gone out through the Department of Education. A per-school recipient list was not found.

HB 1471 lets the FDLE commissioner, acting as the state's Chief of Domestic Security, label an organization a domestic or foreign terrorist group, based on criteria tied to Florida's terrorism statute. The Governor and Cabinet approve or reject it by majority vote. The group gets notice, the designation is published in the Florida Administrative Register, and the group may seek review. Domestic designees face the restrictions that already apply to foreign terrorist groups, and the existing crime of joining or aiding a foreign one now covers domestic ones; the Department of State can dissolve a designated corporation. State and local governments may not fund such groups or accept their money. Voucher-funded private schools may not be tied to them. Public schools may not spend money on programs that promote them, and universities that promote them can lose performance funding. Universities must expel students who promote terrorism, report student-visa holders to federal authorities, and end expelled students' in-state tuition and aid. A separate part bars courts and tribunals from applying foreign or religious law, or enforcing foreign judgments, choice-of-law or forum clauses, in ways that violate constitutional rights; its definition of religious law expressly includes Sharia. HB 1473 makes certain designation records exempt from public-records disclosure, subject to future legislative review. Neither law names Israel or CAIR.

No appropriation found. No fiscal estimate was retrieved.

DeSantis first named CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood by Executive Order 25-244 on Dec. 8, 2025, before the law existed. On July 1, 2026, the day HB 1471 took effect, he announced an FDLE recommendation to designate CAIR, the Muslim Brotherhood and Antifa as domestic terrorist organizations, plus more than 90 foreign groups. On July 13 the state's lawyers told CAIR's lawyers, and the court in a joint filing, that FDLE would first write implementing rules and would make no designation until they were final. The Governor and Cabinet approved the emergency procedural rule (Rule 11RER26-8) on Sept. 11, 2026. FDLE sent CAIR a Notice of Intent on Sept. 18; CAIR objected in writing on Sept. 25. On Sept. 29, 2026 the Governor and Cabinet voted to designate CAIR and two other organizations as domestic terrorist groups and added more than 90 federally designated foreign groups to the state list. The ACLU says its lawyer for CAIR asked to speak and was not acknowledged, and that the vote took about 30 seconds. The designation is set to take effect Nov. 5, 2026. FDLE's materials rely on CAIR being listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 2007-08 Holy Land Foundation prosecution (with more than 200 others), on alleged ties of founders to Hamas leaders, and on a 2014 UAE designation. CAIR has never been charged with a crime.

• CAIR-Foundation, Inc. and CAIR-Florida, Inc. v. DeSantis ('CAIR I', challenge to EO 25-244) · U.S. District Court, N.D. Fla. (Tallahassee); Judge Mark E. Walker until his Oct. 15, 2026 recusal (now 4:25-cv-516-AW-MJF). Appeal: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, No. 26-10735 · No. 4:25-cv-00516-MW-MJF · filed Dec. 15, 2025
  Preliminary injunction granted Mar. 4, 2026, blocking enforcement of the executive order against CAIR on First Amendment grounds. The Governor appealed two days later (11th Cir. No. 26-10735); his opening brief was filed Apr. 20, 2026 and asked for reassignment to a different district judge; briefing closed July 23, 2026. On Oct. 13, 2026 the Eleventh Circuit set the appeal for oral argument, including the disqualification issue. No appellate ruling yet. On Oct. 15, 2026 Judge Walker disqualified himself from the district case (calling the disqualification arguments meritless) and it was reassigned. A bench trial had been set for Mar. 15, 2027. Counsel: SPLC, CAIR Legal Defense Fund, Muslim Legal Fund of America, Akeel & Valentine, ACLU/ACLU-FL, Ali & Lockwood. Amici for the Governor: National Jewish Advocacy Center, Middle East Forum, Network Contagion Research Institute. Amici for CAIR include the Knight First Amendment Institute and NAACP LDF. Spectrum News 13, Dec. 8, 2025; Southern Poverty Law Center, March 4, 2026; WCTV, March 4, 2026; Florida Phoenix, May 20, 2026; ACLU, updated 2026-10-16; U.S. District Court N.D. Fla. (via ACLU), Oct. 15, 2026; U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit (via ACLU), July 28, 2026.
• CAIR-Foundation, Inc. and CAIR-Florida, Inc. v. DeSantis ('CAIR II', pre-vote challenge to HB 1471 designation regime) · U.S. District Court, N.D. Fla., Judge Walker · No. 4:26-cv-315-MW-MJF · filed July 1, 2026
  Emergency TRO denied July 6, 2026 (judge said the state should be heard first); reconsideration ruled on July 7. On July 13 the state said no designation would be made before rules were final. PI motion withdrawn and denied without prejudice July 23, 2026. Judge Walker denied the state's motion to disqualify him on Sept. 14, 2026. Case dismissed Oct. 1, 2026 for lack of standing, because the fears of harm at filing on July 1 were speculative. ACLU, updated 2026-10-16; U.S. District Court N.D. Fla. (via ACLU), July 23, 2026; Israel National News (JNS report), July 8, 2026; Florida Phoenix, July 14, 2026; U.S. District Court N.D. Fla. (via ACLU), July 13, 2026.
• CAIR-Foundation, Inc. and CAIR-Florida, Inc. v. DeSantis et al. ('CAIR III', challenge to Sept. 29 designation) · U.S. District Court, N.D. Fla.; Judge Walker until his Oct. 15, 2026 recusal; reassigned (docket now 4:26-cv-521-RH-MAF) · No. 4:26-cv-521-MW-MJF · filed Oct. 1, 2026
  Emergency TRO/PI motion filed Oct. 2. On Oct. 6 Walker denied immediate emergency relief, noting the designation does not take effect until Nov. 5, and set a conference for Oct. 8; a PI hearing and briefing schedule was set Oct. 7. The state filed its opposition Oct. 12 and CAIR replied Oct. 16. Walker disqualified himself Oct. 15, 2026 and the case was reassigned. PI motion pending as of Oct. 20, 2026. Claims: First Amendment, Fourteenth Amendment due process, right to counsel, federal preemption (Supremacy Clause). Counsel: ACLU, ACLU of Florida, SPLC, Akeel & Valentine, Bondurant Mixson & Elmore. ACLU, updated 2026-10-16; U.S. District Court N.D. Fla. (via ACLU), Oct. 2, 2026; ACLU, Oct. 3, 2026; Southern Jewish Life (JNS report), Oct. 6, 2026; U.S. District Court N.D. Fla. (via ACLU), Oct. 15, 2026.