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.

MENA

1 min read

The New Arab & agencies

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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