Nadav Tamir

The way Israel dealt with BDS played into the hands of its enemies

People campaigning to boycott Israel (Jewish News)
People campaigning to boycott Israel (Jewish News)

It seems that a new and fresh wind is blowing through Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs, whose leadership has come to realize that the way in which the previous government fought the BDS movement (that calls for the imposition of boycott and sanctions on Israel) has played into the hands of our enemies.

Israel’s way to deal with the tactical threats of the BDS movement in recent years has greatly contributed to the distancing of liberal and progressive groups away from Israel, hence endangering Israel’s long-standing relations with the US Democratic Party, most American Jewish communities and most European countries. This has become a significant strategic challenge, that is amplified by advancing legislation against freedom of expression, and silencing criticism, which are considered sacred liberal values.

Israel’s instinctive response to the BDS challenge, as is the case with most of the challenges we face, was to perceive the movement as an existential threat, to seek solutions of military-security nature, and to brand it as antisemitic. However, the BDS movement posed a marginal threat to Israel’s security and economic prosperity, while associating it with antisemitic movements was detrimental to both the fight against antisemitism and the fight against BDS. Israel’s use of semi-military means to thwart threats well demonstrates the meaning of the phrase “whoever has a hammer in his hand sees every problem as a nail”. However, the means used are not suitable to address this challenge and are even harmful.

The BDS movement uses the non-violent tactics that civil society organizations used in the past against the Apartheid regime in South Africa. Western BDS proponents are typically politically liberal and progressive, and many among them are Jews who oppose Israeli occupation and settlements in the West Bank, and who believe that only international pressure would bring about change.

antisemitism on the other hand, like other expressions of xenophobia and racism, originates from politically right-wing movements. The association between the BDS movement and antisemites is harmful; first, because when the diagnosis is wrong it is difficult to develop a prognosis; second, because it legitimizes antisemitism among many young people, who might wrongly conclude that antisemitism is legitimate if antisemitism equals criticizing Israeli policy.

Branding BDS as antisemitism is perceived as hypocritical because it puts us in the same group with populist conservative leaders – Trump in the US, Orban in Hungary, Bolsonaro in Brazil and others – who are all supported by antisemites. who are now also supportive of Israel because they perceive Israel as sharing their xenophobic and especially anti-Muslim sentiments.

To fight the BDS movement, Israel must increase contact with liberal and progressive circles and dialogue with them, even if they are critical of certain aspects of Israel’s policy. As regard antisemitism, the way to cope with it is through alliances with other minorities and through forming a broad coalition against racism and xenophobia, rather than using the term antisemitism against anyone who dares to criticize Israel or Zionism.

Our insistence on distinguishing the Holocaust from other incidences of genocide to fight antisemitism, while being completely indifferent or even encouraging Islamophobia, for example, is immoral and doomed to failure.

During a discussion in the Knesset State Audit Affairs Committee, headed by MK Ofer Shelah (July 28), which I attended as a representative of the Mitvim Institute, I was impressed by the presentation of the new Director General of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs Ronen Menalis who claimed that a new and more effective approach to respond to the challenge exists.

I was also encouraged by the understanding presented by Menalis, that Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs must be a key player in addressing BDS due to the knowledge and unique position of its representatives among target audiences. It is to be hoped that a new era will indeed open in this aspect of Israel’s foreign policy, alongside the new spirit of empowerment felt recently in the Foreign Ministry.

About the Author
Nadav Tamir is the executive director of J Street Israel, a member of the board of the Mitvim think-tank, adviser for international affairs at the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation, and member of the steering committee of the Geneva Initiative. He was an adviser of President Shimon Peres and served in the Israel embassy in Washington and as consul general to New England.
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