The Boycott Israel Movement May be Failing

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The Boycott Israel Movement May be Failing

Sangwon Yoon

June 1, 2016 — 9:00 PM CDTUpdated on June 2, 2016 — 11:23 AM CDT

 

Foreign investment in Israel nearly tripled to a record high

Startups, high tech and offshore gas all big attractions

 

 

Physicist Stephen Hawking shunned a Jerusalem conference hosted by Israel’s president, singer Lauryn Hill canceled a Tel Aviv concert and a giant Dutch pension fund blacklisted five Israeli banks. All are signs that an international movement to isolate Israel is gaining ground.

 

Yet an examination of foreign capital flow into the country shows the opposite trend -- a steep increase. Foreign investments in Israeli assets hit a record high last year of $285.12 billion, a near-tripling from 2005 when the so-called Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement was started by a group of Palestinians.

The boycott movement is comprised of those who reject the Jewish state’s existence as well as those who want it to change its policies toward Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. But even the more limited focus on the occupation and the companies that benefit from it has had little discernible impact.