In a ruling that The Jerusalem Post declared “one of its most important
decisions of the era,” Israel’s High Court of Justice recently ruled that Israel’s Finance Minister can “impose fines and withhold funding from Israeli NGOs calling for boycotts of businesses in all or parts of Israel and the power to file lawsuits against those NGOs.”
This is a declarative no to extremist organizations including The New Israel Fund.
Petitioners in court today who sought permission of boycotts of Israel were
New Israel Fund (NIF) sponsored organizations, including Gush Shalom, Adalah — the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI).
Media in Israel noted that “the Knesset and the state painted a dramatic picture of a dark shadow of a wave of BDS attacks on the state as evidence that Israel is under fire and needs the Anti-Boycott Law and similar measures for self-defense.” The courts ruled that the speech is not protected speech — akin to shouting “fire in a crowded theatre.”
Rightfully, Justice Hanan Meltzer described boycotts as “political terrorism,” clarifying that the State of Israel has a right to defend itself from them. This is clearly a resounding no from the State of Israel for the New Israel Fund and these organizations which they fund.
One wonders how the NIF can claim they do not support BDS when they go to Israel’s Supreme Court — with American Jewish donor money — and try to cancel the law forbidding boycotts of the State of Israel.
The NIF’s website and annual report proclaim that NIF will “not exclude support for organizations that discourage the purchase of goods or use of services from [West Bank] settlements.”
The Scarlett Johansson-Soda¬Stream debacle centered on this exact issue — Johansson stood behind SodaStream, which has a drink machine company in the disputed West Bank — and the Jewish world at the time applauded Johansson for supporting Israel.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the time, “Everyone should know what the letters BDS really stand for: bigotry, dishonesty, and shame. And those who oppose BDS, like Scarlett Johansson, they should be applauded.” Clearly, Israel’s high court agrees.
Ronn Torossian is one of America’s foremost Public Relations executives as founder/CEO of 5WPR, a leading independent PR Agency. The firm was honored as PR Firm of the Year by The American Business Awards, and has been named to the Inc. 500 List. Torossian is author of the best-selling "For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results with Game-Changing Public Relations." For more of Ronn Torossian's reports, Go Here Now.