Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) encouraged the new joint Assembly to embrace his efforts against antisemitism during its new legislative session, which opened on Wednesday.

“I want to challenge us. … I want to challenge all of us. … Pass a bill which says the commonwealth of Virginia won’t do business with companies that boycott Israel,” the Republican governor said while delivering his State of the Commonwealth address at the Virginia Capitol.

“Pass a hate crime bill which ensures all forms of antisemitism, not just religious bigotry, are treated as hate crimes under the law,” he also said.

The governor expressed that Virginians should not have to live in fear of antisemitism.

“When parents send their children to college, when a young family goes to the grocery store, when someone goes to Friday prayer at a mosque or Saturday services at temple or Sunday morning worship at church, Virginians should not worry about being the victim of a crime simply because of their religion, their race or creed,” he said.

Youngkin added, “We’re better than this. We’re Virginia, the first state to forge religious freedom into the fabric of our nation, with the Statute for Religious Freedom, with those timeless words that God created the ‘mind free.’ We should lead and do the right thing.”

The Virginia governor has been an ardent supporter of Israel. He ordered American flags to be flown at half-staff for the victims of the Hamas terror attacks in Israel and met with Jewish community leaders throughout Virginia.

The Republican governor later issued an executive directive to combat antisemitic attacks on Jewish people at educational institutions and threats throughout the community.

In his commonwealth address, the former businessman also celebrated the addition of roughly 233,000 jobs and $5 billion in tax relief in 2023. Youngkin shared his enthusiasm for the proposed move of Monumental Sports and Entertainment, owner of the two major sports teams the Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards, to Alexandria, Virginia, which would bring 30,000 new jobs to the area.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

He shared his $20.2 billion plan to support schools and called on lawmakers to remove the car tax.

Youngkin faces a new legislature under full Democratic control after the 2023 state elections, but he holds a veto pen as leverage during the 60-day work period to craft a new two-year state budget.