Hundreds of attorneys from Israel and around the world are expected to attend the first international conference aimed at combating the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, set to be held in Jerusalem next week.
Participants will discuss consolidating legal strategies to fight BDS and establishing a unified international network to further their efforts.
The conference is the result of a joint partnership between the Israel Bar Association, the Strategic Affairs Ministry and the International Legal Foundation. Among those expected to take part in the conference are Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, Chief Justice Esther Hayut and Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit.
Attorney Pascal Markowicz, a board member of the umbrella group of French Jewish communities and one of the pioneers in the fight against BDS, is also set to attend the conference.
In an interview with Israel Hayom, Markowicz called on the Israeli government to fight BDS and the delegitimization of Israel as it would a military campaign.
"It is premature to say that Israel has won the battle against BDS. We are on the right path because more and more countries admit practical steps must be taken against this movement. This is a strategic and political war that must be waged like any military war," he said.
Markowicz said Israel should respond to actions of the boycott movement just as it would to missile fire at its territory.
"This is war – not military, but political, economic, cultural and philosophical, a global war. This is an all-out war, meant to delegitimize Israel, to remove it from the nations of the world, and in retrospect, what [Iranian former President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad preached: Israel's disappearance from the world map," he said.
Asked whether the movement presents a strategic threat to Israel, Markowicz said, "I wouldn't define it as a threat because we have enough arguments and tools to contend with it. Take France, for example, where we have a very good global law that allows us to criminalize the boycotters. The boycott movement there is a failure.
"As a rule, we are winning more battles than they are today. Here and there, there are investment funds that divest from Israel or singers who cancel performances. That doesn't seem dangerous to me."
