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Montana committee approves trade office in Israel after heated public opposition
Summary
The House Business and Labor Committee approved House Bill 950 to establish a Montana trade office in Israel after hours of testimony that included sharp public objections about human-rights implications and arguments from state commerce officials on economic benefits.
Representative Brad Barker introduced House Bill 950 to establish a Montana trade office in Israel and requested an appropriation to staff and operate the office. Barker said Montana already operates trade offices in Taiwan and Japan and argued a presence in Israel would help Montana firms in photonics, ag and water technology, cyber and biotech research and development. "This is to promote Montana businesses and the growth of areas that are important to Montana," Barker said.
Opponents packed the public-comment record. Jane Clarke, speaking as a private citizen, urged lawmakers to keep taxpayer dollars in Montana and accused some Israeli defense-related companies of supporting what she called "genocide," saying Montanans "will not stand for this." Other speakers — including Donald Jacques, Brandon Wirk and Jenna Martin, who said she recently returned from reporting in the West Bank — warned that close ties to Israeli tech risked indirectly supporting military applications and argued the $500,000 in the bill would be better spent on local needs such as school lunches, housing or childcare. Many opponents tied specific technologies (photonics, imaging, AI tools) discussed in the bill to military uses in their testimony.
Mandy Rambo, deputy director of the Montana Department of Commerce, described how existing trade offices operate: small in-country contracted staff supported by a three-person Export MT team at the department, plus use of federal STEP grants and trade missions to arrange business meetings. Rambo said Israel was Montana’s roughly 41st-largest trading partner in 2024, with about $9 million in goods, and cited optics and photonics as the main sector of exchange. She told the committee that Montana reopened offices in Taiwan and Japan in 2021 and that a dedicated in-country staff can increase exports.
Barker emphasized the bill’s focus on commercial relationships, not foreign-policy endorsement: "This is not a referendum on foreign policy or any war," he said, and insisted the appropriation would not be transferred to foreign firms but used to establish a Montana-managed trade office to promote Montana businesses. The chair closed the hearing; in executive action later the committee recommended the bill be sent to the House floor.
What happens next: The committee voted in executive session to advance HB950 to the House floor with the committee recommendation. The bill now proceeds to the chamber for floor consideration.
