JERUSALEM – Israeli backers of a bill that would punish people for boycotting West Bank settlements said Sunday they will push forward with the proposal, despite accusations that it’s an undemocractic slap at freedom of speech.

In recent years, settlement opponents in Israel have joined boycotts of products made in the settlements. The Palestinians and most of the international community say settlements are illegal because they are built on war-won land. Palestinians want the West Bank for their future state.

The local initiatives have angered settlers and their powerful political patrons.

The bill stipulates that any Israeli individual or organization that sponsors a “geographically based boycott” could be sued for damages in a civil court by the party injured in the boycott call.

A final vote was set for today, but legislator Yohanan Plesner, an opponent of the bill, said he asked the parliament’s legal adviser to delay it and would receive an answer this morning.

The bill is the latest effort of mostly hawkish Israeli circles to restrict domestic dissent. For example, some hard-line lawmakers called for a cutoff of state funds to theaters whose actors refused to appear in settlements.

Dovish sectors of Israeli society denounce such moves as anti-democratic. Supporters say the bill is meant to counter perceived attempts to delegitimize Israel.

“The state of Israel has for years been dealing with boycotts from Arab nations, but now we are talking about a homegrown boycott,” said the bill’s author, Likud lawmaker Zeev Elkin, referring to local efforts to avoid settlements and their products.