At home, at least two of Israel\u2019s far-right government ministers, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, have also been sanctioned by governments<\/a> worldwide.<\/p>\n And on top of that hangs the judgement<\/a> of the International Court of Justice in January 2024, that the state of Israel may plausibly be engaged in genocide, in an ongoing case brought by South Africa.<\/p>\n Criticism of Israel has also entered the mainstream culturally in Western countries, particularly among young people horrified by the death rained upon Gaza.<\/p>\n And importantly, there have been economic consequences for Israel and some of those doing business in it \u2013 echoing the boycott movement against apartheid South Africa in the 1980s.<\/p>\n Companies such as the French supermarket chain Carrefour<\/a> were forced to close a number of outlets in the Middle East amid public anger over its links to Israeli firms operating in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n Other companies associated with Israel\u2019s actions, including Airbnb \u2013 which allows Israelis in illegal settlements to rent their properties \u2013 and Microsoft<\/a>, whose Azure cloud services have supported the Israeli military, have all faced internal dissent and reputational damage because of their ties to the Israeli government.<\/p>\n As a consequence of public pressure, pension funds from around the world, including Spain, Norway, Denmark, France and Ireland, have divested from Israeli assets linked to settlements, or withdrawn investments from companies tied to Israel.<\/p>\n \u201cBDS and boycotts have changed Israel\u2019s global trade landscape,\u201d Avi Balashnikov, chairman of the Israel Export Institute, conceded in September 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cWe fight every day, hour by hour, for Israeli industry abroad,\u201d he added. \u201cEconomic boycotts and BDS organisations present major challenges, and in some countries, we are forced to operate under the radar.\u201d<\/p>\n Moving spotlight<\/p>\n Despite a US-brokered \u201cceasefire<\/a>\u201c, Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed more than 500 people since the agreement was reached in October, including at least 31<\/a> on Saturday. The fact that Israel has continued to kill Palestinians, while much of the world looks away, highlights the difficulty now facing the BDS movement and whether it can maintain the energy it has gained.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is not uncommon for the observance of a boycott to rise and fall according to the prominence of an issue and success of specific campaigns to raise awareness or promote adherence to the boycott,\u201d Nick Cull, a historian and authority on cultural boycotts at the University of Southern California, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that the power of a boycott is cumulative,\u201d Cull continued. \u201cJust as advertising associates a brand with good feelings and positive experiences \u2013 think how over many decades Coca-Cola link their drink to ideas of friendship \u2013 as part of the \u2018buy-me\u2019 message, so a boycott\u2019s \u2018don\u2019t buy\u2019 message becomes a negative branding associating a product and its place of origin with negative feelings: training a revulsion impulse rather than a logical inner debate over the merits of a particular case.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSince the ceasefire, a less-visible form of genocide has been unfolding,\u201d Saleh Hijazi, Policy Coordinator with the BDS movement, told Al Jazeera, pointing to the mounting death toll in Gaza from Israeli attacks and the restrictions that Israel was imposing on access to food and medicine.<\/p>\n \u201cIsrael and the US, a full partner in this genocide, have used the so-called ceasefire as an attempt to rescue apartheid Israel from a downward spiral, to launder its global image and muffle international outrage. It\u2019s meant to push Palestinians out of the headlines, weaken calls for boycotts and sanctions, and make our struggle seem less urgent,\u201d Hijazi said.<\/p>\n However, while the media spotlight may have broadened from its formerly sharp focus on Gaza, the reputational damage inflicted on companies trading with Israel as a result of its genocide, as well as new initiatives to culturally isolate it, are gaining ground.<\/p>\n \u201cI still feel odd about brands demonised during [South Africa\u2019s] apartheid and artists who violated the boycott,\u201d Cull added, emphasising the lasting reputational damage of boycotts. \u201cThis training of people into a negative reflex is what makes boycotts so powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n More initiatives are now taking hold, attempting to build on the sense of cultural isolation many in Israel feel.<\/p>\n![\"LOS](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AA-20240502-34438445-34438435-STUDENTS_SET_UP_GAZA_SOLIDARITY_ENCAMPMENT_IN_CALIFORNIA-1714640654.jp.jpeg\")
Pro-Palestinian students at the UCLA campus set up an encampment in support of Gaza in protest against Israel\u2019s attacks on the enclave, in Los Angeles, California [Grace Yoon\/Anadolu Agency]<\/p>\n![\"bds\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2059055326-1711451288.jpg\")
A protester holds a placard reading, \u2018This Company Supports Israeli Genocide, Join The Boycott\u2019, for lunchtime shoppers to see during a demonstration outside Coca-Cola-owned Costa Coffee [Martin Pope\/SOPA Images\/LightRocket via Getty Images]<\/p>\n![\"Protesters](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2024-05-11T143410Z_1946289143_RC2EO7ANIZAI_RTRMADP_3_MUSIC-EUROVISION-PROTESTS-1765387372.jpg\")
Protesters hold a banner and Palestinian flags during the \u2018Stop Israel\u2019 demonstration against Israel\u2019s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest due to its ongoing offensive in Gaza, in Malmo, Sweden [Johan Nilsson\/TT News Agency via Reuters]Lasting damage<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2025-09-16T233142Z_1140844634_RC2ATGA8XM66_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-SOCCER-1758139866.jpg\")
A billboard in Times Square displays the message \u2018Soccer Federations: Boycott Israel\u2019 as part of the campaign by Game Over Israel calling for a boycott of Israel by national football federations over the war in Gaza, in New York City, United States [Jeenah Moon\/Reuters]<\/p>\n