Israel has become the country most exposed to boycotts worldwide, facing a sweeping wave of international sanctions targeting government officials, occupiers and official institutions, the daily Yedioth Ahronoth said Thursday.<\/p>\n
Under the headline \u201cHow Israel became the most boycotted nation in the world,\u201d the newspaper said Israel has faced \u201ca tsunami of international sanctions targeting Israeli government officials, occupiers and institutions, escalating pressure from multiple countries and long-standing pro-BDS organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n
It said France recently barred Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from entering the country, after previously imposing a similar ban on National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.<\/p>\n
According to the newspaper, the French move came in response to the two ministers\u2019 \u201cactive promotion of West Bank annexation, new settlements and policies perceived as undermining the Palestinian Authority.\u201d<\/p>\n
The United Nations considers the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, occupied Palestinian territory, and its annexation to Israel would effectively eliminate the possibility of establishing an independent Palestinian state envisioned in international resolutions.<\/p>\n
Growing momentum<\/p>\n
Yedioth Ahronoth said until Oct. 7, 2023, Israel had managed to limit the impact of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaigns.<\/p>\n
\u201cEconomic sanctions had little effect because Israel\u2019s strong economy discouraged divestment, while academic and cultural boycotts were largely symbolic,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n
However, the phenomenon has intensified, with BDS achieving successes in multiple fields,\u201d the daily said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe movement has damaged Israel\u2019s reputation internationally, evident in public opinion surveys showing growing negative perceptions.\u201d<\/p>\n
The report cited several examples, including artists refusing to perform in Israel, authors refusing Hebrew translations of their work and campaigns removing Israel from events like Eurovision or FIFA competitions.<\/p>\n
It also pointed to growing efforts to withdraw foreign investments, \u201cincluding the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund divesting from Israeli companies.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe UN Human Rights Council blacklist targets Israeli and international companies operating beyond the Green Line,\u201d the paper said, referring to illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.<\/p>\n
\u201cReports and videos from the West Bank showing occupiers engaging in violent behavior against Palestinians and property damage have further fueled the sanctions,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPublic statements and actions by ministers, especially Ben-Gvir\u2019s widely circulated video humiliating flotilla participants bound for Gaza, drew condemnation from multiple countries as crossing a red line.\u201d<\/p>\n
Western sanctions<\/p>\n
Referring to France\u2019s decision to bar Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, the newspaper said Paris had joined Ireland, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway in restricting entry for Israeli ministers.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrance, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway\u2014have coordinated sanctions against occupiers and organizations promoting violence in the West Bank,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
France has also restricted the entry of four illegal settlement leaders and 21 occupiers, according to the report.<\/p>\n
The UK launched \u201ca plan of action\u201d targeting networks that finance and support occupiers\u2019 attacks, \u201curging businesses to avoid operations in West Bank settlements.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCanada imposed entry bans and financial restrictions on two citizens and five organizations, while Australia sanctioned three citizens and six outposts,\u201d the newspaper said.<\/p>\n
New Zealand also barred three Israelis, adding them to a blacklist of 35 individuals that includes Ben-Gvir, Smotrich and illegal settlement figures such as Daniela Weiss, Ze\u2019ev Haber, Elisha Yered, Noam Federman, Baruch Marzel and Bentzi Gopstein.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn addition to sanctions, France has opened investigations into alleged torture and war crimes linked to the flotilla incident and Italy announced an inquiry into Ben-Gvir for humiliating Italian civilians,\u201d the report added.<\/p>\n
\u201cEU discussions are ongoing regarding personal sanctions against Israeli ministers,\u201d the paper said.<\/p>\n
\u201cGermany reportedly opposes measures against Smotrich but may support restrictions on Ben-Gvir, though a Czech veto could prevent action,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n
Analysts cited by the newspaper said broad economic sanctions against Israel \u201care unlikely in the short term, but personal sanctions against ministers are expected to remain under consideration.\u201d<\/p>\n
They argued that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s government has failed to effectively respond to these developments, mobilize friendly countries or engage with global Jewish communities in confronting the boycott movement.<\/p>\n
Netanyahu has been wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) since 2024 on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against Palestinians in Gaza, where nearly 73,000 people have been killed and over 173,000 others in a genocidal war since October 2023.<\/p>\n
Israel is also facing a case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) brought by South Africa and supported by several countries, accusing it of committing genocide in the Palestinian enclave.<\/p>\n
*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Israel has become the country most exposed to boycotts worldwide, facing a sweeping wave of international sanctions targeting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":487737,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43,180804],"class_list":["post-487736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-news","tag-sitekeywords"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=487736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487736\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/487737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=487736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=487736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=487736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}