Daily Alert Archives

A New Approach to Dealing with Boycott Activities: Exacting a Price from the PA

(Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs) Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch - For many years, Israel has been the subject of a widespread, coordinated attack to promote Boycotts, Sanctions, and Divestment (BDS). The goal of the BDS movement is to undermine Israel's legitimacy as the nation-state of the Jewish people. It is impossible to ignore the fact that the Palestinian Authority (PA) stands at the forefront of this struggle, in breach of all the agreements it has signed. To date, the State of Israel and its representatives have focused their efforts on combating BDS activities in various ways, mainly in the international arena. Against this background, and as a complementary activity, the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA) has formulated a proposal for an alternative approach to this phenomenon. The main thrust of the proposal is to exact a price from the PA for its activities to promote BDS by presenting and stressing the fact that BDS activities can be a two-way street. Palestinian "exports" to Israel benefit the PA because they allow the employment of tens of thousands of Palestinians in various roles to produce the goods sold to Israel. The PA benefits from a situation where it acts simultaneously both to promote a boycott against Israel and to continue to profit from trade with it. If Israel were not only to stop the entry of workers but also to expand the reduction of trade with PA territories to the point of a complete ban, the damage to the Palestinian economy could be enormous and would lead to an almost complete slowdown and even a rise in unemployment.
2025-05-08 00:00:00
Full Article