Israel is acting to enforce its anti-BDS law against Amnesty International, after the human rights organization embarked on a campaign calling for a boycott of products from Judea and Samaria and a weapons embargo on Israel, which it has accused of war crimes.
Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan have formulated amendments to the law to enable the sanctions, and Kahlon will be able to enact them after three weeks of public hearings in which citizens can voice their objections.
Before imposing sanctions on Amnesty International, Kahlon is expected to invite senior officials from the organization to a hearing. Amnesty International could also be sued for damages for violating the anti-BDS law.
Under its "Israel's Occupation: 50 Years of Dispossession" campaign, Amnesty calls for "governments to stop enabling the economy that keeps these illegal settlements growing and fuels the suffering of Palestinians … and help put an end to the cycle of violations suffered by Palestinians living under Israel's occupation."
In June, Amnesty International Secretary General Salil Shetty wrote, "Fifty years on, merely condemning Israel's settlement expansion is not enough. It's time for states to take concrete international action to stop the financing of settlements which themselves flagrantly violate international law and constitute war crimes."
More recently, the organization has also called for the release of Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi, who was filmed attacking and goading IDF soldiers on duty in the village of Nabi Saleh in December.
The deputy director of Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa department, Magdalena Mughrabi, said, "Tamimi's ongoing detention and trial in a military court is an example of the institutional discrimination typical of the treatment of Palestinian children who participate in activism against the Israeli occupation and shows how Israel is violating its international human rights obligations toward children."
Officially known as the Prevention of Damage to the State of Israel through Boycott Law, the anti-BDS law allows the finance minister, in agreement with the justice minister, to impose civil sanctions on entities that promote or take part in an economic, cultural or academic boycott against an institution or person because of their "affiliation with Israel." The minister may deny tax benefits to such an organization regardless of whether it takes an active role or simply pledges to take part in such activity.
If the sanctions are imposed on an organization, Israelis who make contributions would not be eligible for tax benefits. As a result, Amnesty International would likely collect fewer donations.
"Seven years have passed since the boycott law was passed. Throughout all those years, the war [against BDS] was not put into effect and in fact lay there like a useless stone," Kahlon said.
"The amendments formulated by the Finance Ministry in recent months for the first time allow the law to be put to use. As I said, and as I have pledged in the past, we have zero tolerance for bodies that damage the State of Israel, Israel's economy and IDF soldiers. It is unthinkable that bodies call for harming IDF soldiers and the State of Israel and at the same time enjoy tax benefits. The regulations put an end to this absurdity."
Erdan, whose idea it was to amend the law, said, "The new amendments will bring about a revolution that will finally allow the state to exact a financial price from boycott activists who try to harm the citizens of Israel. No sane country would allow those who harm it to enjoy benefits [from the state]."
