Israel, US urge EU to take action against boycott movement

Israel, US urge EU to take action against boycott movement
The Israeli minister of strategic affairs said the EU should stop funding the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

1 min read
25 September, 2019
The BDS movement promotes a boycott of Israel over its treatment of Palestinians [Getty]
Israeli and US officials urged European Union leaders to take action against organisations supporting an international boycott of Israel.

Gilad Erdan, the Israeli minister of strategic affairs, told a news conference in Brussels that the EU should stop funding the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. He spoke alongside US envoy Elan Carr.

The BDS movement is a campaign promoting various forms of boycott against Israel until it meets its obligations under international law.

Israel sees the movement as a strategic threat and accuses it of anti-Semitism - a claim activists strongly deny.

It has recently been met with increasing resistance from pro-Israel factions in the US and in Israel itself.

German lawmakers approved a resolution in May denouncing BDS as "anti-Israel" and describing its methods as anti-Semitic. It is first European parliament to do so.

Comment: Protecting Americans' right to boycott Israel is more important than ever

The Israeli and US leaders also warned about a rise in attacks targeting Jews in Western Europe.

According to numbers compiled by Tel Aviv University, anti-Semitic attacks worldwide rose 13 percent in 2018 from the previous year. The highest number of attacks were in the US, France, Britain and Germany.

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