HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The Pennsylvania Senate on Thursday approved a bill that would ban state aid to universities that boycott or divest from Israel, following pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses across the country calling for divestment.

The measure, which passed by a vote of 41 to 7, would also prohibit the state treasurer and public pension systems from boycotting or withdrawing from the Israeli government or commercial financial activities in the country.

The bill received the support of all but one Republican and most Democrats. It now goes to the House of Representatives.

Supporters of the bill said it was motivated by a desire to support an ally in the war against Hamas, to counter a growing tide of anti-Semitism in the United States and to put state-supported universities on notice that they must protect Jewish students from threats and harassment by anti-Israel protesters.

Some of the Senate's more liberal members opposed the bill, including Democrat Art Haywood, who expressed concern that the bill would restrict free speech.

His Democratic colleague and Senator Steve Santarsiero, who sponsored the bill, denied that it violated free speech and said students and teachers could continue to protest peacefully.

The bill does not penalize universities that make investment decisions to fulfill their fiduciary responsibility to maximize returns, Santarsiero said, nor does it affect personal college investment accounts or student loans.

Another supporter, Democratic Senator Judy Schwank, expressed hope that this would send a message to college administrators and trustees responsible for campus safety.

“Physical harm and death threats go beyond mere hurt feelings and certainly exceed the limits of free expression,” Schwank said.

Pennsylvania sends more than two billion dollars annually to higher education in the form of direct grants and tuition-based scholarships. Much of this goes to the system of 10 public universities, including Penn State, Temple University, Lincoln University, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Pennsylvania.

This year, clashes over the war between Israel and Hamas have broken out on college campuses across the country.

To end the camps without the use of police force, some universities negotiated with the protesters over their divestment demands: Rutgers University in New Jersey agreed to talk about ending its business relations with Israel, while Northwestern University in Illinois re-established a committee on “investment responsibility.”

None of Pennsylvania's state-funded schools reported complying with protesters' demands for divestment from Israel.

The camps at the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University in Philadelphia were dismantled after the schools called the police.

Liz Magill, the president of Pennsylvania University, resigned in December due to pressure from donors and criticism of her testimony at a congressional hearing. At that hearing, she was unable to comment despite repeated questioning on whether calls for genocide against Jews on campus violated the university's code of conduct.

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Marc Levy, Associated Press