The Board launches ‘A better way than boycotts’ guide

The Board of Deputies has launched a guide to anti-Israel boycotts by arguing that Israelis want a Palestinian state too – barely a week after the Israeli prime minister said he would never grant one.

The 48-page document, called ‘A Better Way than Boycotts,’ appeals to those whose justification for boycotting Israel is based on “the erroneous notion that Israel is an intransigent force unwilling to make concessions”.

You can read the full document by clicking HERE.

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The document’s release comes in the aftermath of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments on the campaign trail earlier this month, when he said no Palestinian state would be agreed on his watch.

Jewish student leaders on some of the biggest American campuses this week said Netanyahu’s election victory was this week described as “a victory for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)”.

Board of Deputies presidential candidate Alex Brummer agreed that the BDS movement will have gained significant momentum following the vote.

“In the aftermath of Israel’s elections, I would expect the boycott campaign to gather fresh momentum,” he said.

“It is critically important that organisations facing calls for BDS have an accurate narrative of the close cultural, economic and political interests that align Britain and Israel.”

There has been huge recent growth in trade between Britain and Israel, now worth £3 billion a year, and fellow Board presidential hopeful Jonathan Arkush said the document was timely for “breaking new ground in putting forward the response of direct positive action to improve the lives of all people in the region”.