(Update 3/18/24): Gov. Eric Holcomb officially vetoed House Bill 1002, criticizing the bill’s “confusing” language and the bill’s failure to incorporate the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s complete definition of antisemitism.

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INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana lawmakers passed a bill formally recognizing antisemitism as discrimination within educational institutions as they met for the final hours of the 2024 legislative session Friday.

House Bill 1002 was passed by the bipartisan conference committee, which features members of both the Indiana House and Senate, and will head to Gov. Eric Holcomnb’s desk for final approval after the bill’s latest version was approved by the House and Senate. The bill was authored by State Rep. Chris Jeter, R-Fishers.

It had looked as if the bill’s progress had ground to a halt earlier this month after lawmakers clashed over language that was used by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance to broadly define antisemitism.

Critics voiced their opposition against the IHRA’s original definition largely because it labeled any criticism aimed at Israel as a form of antisemitism.

Earlier this week, an amended version of the bill passed in the Indiana Senate in a 42-6 vote that removed the polarizing language, according to the Associated Press. The amended version still contained the IHRA’s working definition of antisemitism but removed specific references to Israel.

The bill was passed by House Republicans two months ago after Republicans listed it among their top five priorities for the 2024 legislative session.

The original version of the bill that was passed by the House included IHRA’s original working definition of antisemitism, which included examples specifically referencing Israel and striking out the name of the alliance. The definition was adopted by the U.S. Department of State.

Critics contended that if the bill were to include specific references to Israel, it could lead to a lack of free speech protections for critics of Israel and Palestinian advocates on college campuses who continue to call attention to the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza that followed in the aftermath of the Israel-Hamas War that broke out late last year.

This disagreement paved the way for the bill to be reviewed by the conference committee before reaching a final decision.

The committee concluded on Friday that IHRA would be added back to the language of the bill but remained committed to the proposal to keep the clause about its examples out of the final version.

The Indianapolis Jewish Community Relations Council thanked the Indiana General Assembly for passing the bill, stating it is “proud” that educational institutions throughout the Hoosier state will adopt a working definition of antisemitism as defined by the IHRA.

“We look forward to continuing to work with Indiana’s governmental agencies and educational institutions to ensure the proper interpretation and implementation of the IHRA definition, including the context and referenced examples widely recognized as a critical component of its use,” the Indianapolis Jewish Community Relations Council said in a statement Friday. “We are grateful for the Indiana House and Senate for listening to our community and for protecting Jewish Hoosier students across the state. We urge Governor Holcomb to sign this critical piece of legislation into law as soon as possible.”

The Indiana Muslim Advocacy Network also weighed in after the bill was approved, saying it was “pleased” to see House Bill 1002 be passed by the Indiana General Assembly.

“We are thankful to members of the Indiana General Assembly who spent time listening and working with multiple communities to make sure the contemporary examples accompanied by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism, were stricken from the bill,” the Indiana Muslim Advocacy Network said. “The reservations surrounding these examples stemmed from majority of the examples defining certain criticisms of Israel as antisemitic, which could have been used to stifle free speech in schools and on college campuses.”

A full version of the bill can be viewed here.