During the all-member referendum held from 15 June to 14 July, 37 percent of eligible members voted, with 71 percent supporting the resolution and 29 percent opposing it.

The AAA's academic institutional boycott only involves refraining from formal collaborations with Israeli academic institutions and does not affect individual scholars and students affiliated with these institutions. The association is still committed to protecting academic freedom and promoting the dissemination of anthropological knowledge.

Founded in 1902, the AAA has over 10,000 members who are anthropologists from various institutions worldwide, including universities, research institutions, museums, government agencies, non-profits, and corporations.

The Executive Board of the AAA has authorized several actions that align with the association's core values and goals, including barring Israeli academic institutions from being listed in AAA's published materials, advertising in its publications, using its conference facilities for job interviews, participating in the AAA Graduate School Fair, participating in the AAA Departmental Services Programme, participating in joint conferences or events with AAA and its sections, and republishing or reprinting articles from AAA publications in journals and publications owned by Israeli institutions, as per the statement.

Individuals affiliated with Israeli academic institutions can still attend AAA conferences, even if their institutions have paid for their expenses, as the boycott does not prohibit them from registering and participating.

AAA journal articles can still be reprinted or republished in journals not owned by Israeli institutions, which are edited by individuals affiliated with Israeli academic institutions.

Individuals affiliated with Israeli academic institutions can still serve as journal editors or elected officials in AAA, even if their institutions cover the related expenses. Israeli university libraries can subscribe to AAA journals, including AnthroSource.

The resolution has empowered the Executive Board to create an implementation plan, including outlining the process for considering lifting the boycott. The AAA will only end the institutional boycott when a group of experts, commissioned for this purpose, reaches a consensus that Israeli academic institutions have significantly ceased their complicity in violating Palestinian rights, as per international law.

The Executive Board will review and assess the situation every five years or as required and decide whether to maintain the boycott.

“This was indeed a contentious issue, and our differences may have sparked fierce debate, but we have made a collective decision and it is now our duty to forge ahead, united in our commitment to advancing scholarly knowledge, finding solutions to human and social problems, and serving as a guardian of human rights,” said a statement from Ramona L. Pérez, a professor of anthropology at San Diego State University and president of the association.

The resolution also offers a view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, stating that “The Israeli state operates an apartheid regime from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, including the internationally recognized state of Israel, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank,” and that “Israeli academic institutions are complicit in the Israeli state’s regime of oppression against Palestinians…including by providing research and development of military and surveillance technologies used against Palestinians.”

According to Pérez, the actions taken by the AAA can increase critical awareness of peace and conflict dynamics in the region and broaden the scope for dialogue on sensitive and crucial human rights and academic freedom concerns.

The AAA's approval of the resolution marks a significant change in the association's stance on the matter. In November 2015, attendees at the annual meeting overwhelmingly voted in favour of a boycott by a margin of 1,040 to 136. However, when the entire membership was surveyed in 2016, the proposal was narrowly defeated.

Opposing the boycott, certain pro-Israel groups have threatened to take legal action against the AAA.

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) launched the academic boycott campaign against Israeli academic and cultural institutions in April 2004 as part of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Since then, various academic groups have taken concrete steps to boycott Israel, such as the Middle East Studies Association, which supported the BDS movement in 2020.

The American Studies Association and other academic groups have also backed BDS resolutions.

The academic boycott campaign against Israel has also gained traction in universities and institutions outside the US. In the UK, the University of London, the University of Edinburgh, and the University of Manchester have passed resolutions in support of the boycott.

Likewise, the University of Cape Town, the University of Witwatersrand, and the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa have endorsed the boycott, along with Trinity College Dublin, the University College Dublin, and the Queen's University Belfast in Ireland. Additionally, the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and the University of São Paulo in Brazil, as well as the University of Leuven and the Free University of Brussels in Belgium, have also adopted resolutions supporting the boycott.