After debate in a Knesset committee, the bill was changed to remove any criminality, i.e. it only provides for civil penalties, and to allow it to apply to anyone regardless of the nationality of the person who publicizes the boycott.
The supporters of the bill, led by Netanyahu, contended that the law doesn't and only prevents harmful actions being taken against the State of Israel or its citizens.
[1] In the 2015 landmark decision Avneri v. The Knesset, the Supreme Court of Israel unanimously struck down section 2c of the law (which permitted the imposition of compensation payments even if no damages were proven), ruling that it was unconstitutional.
Gush Shalom, Adalah, Physicians for Human Rights, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel and the Coalition of Women for Peace – said that they would join legal challenges.
It was the first time to have been successfully applied, due to the difficulty of proving a direct link between a call to boycott and any actual damage caused by it.