#BDS: The law actually deals with boycotting Israel as a whole – not only settlements

"What’s the “Boycott Law” about?  If you ask Israelis that question, particularly those opposed to the law, they’ll probably say that it prohibits calling for boycotts of products produced by Israeli settlements located in territories captured in 1967.  But that’s the wrong answer, which is surprising given how recently the law was passed by the Knesset.  More and more Facebook pages display photographs of Israeli leftists wearing buttons declaring they’re boycotting products from the settlements.

Well, that law prohibits citizens of the state from engaging in any activity that encourages avoiding “economic, cultural or academic connections with a person or other entity solely because of their connection with the state of Israel, one of its institutions or an area under its control, the effect of which is to cause economic, cultural or academic damage.”  No mention of “territories,” of “settlements” – no nothing.  The law actually deals with boycotting Israel as a whole."

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#BDS: What is the new Israeli Anti-Boycott law?

"1. Definition:
1. In this bill, "a boycott against the State of Israel" is defined as: deliberately avoiding economic, 
cultural or academic ties with another person or body solely because of their affinity with the State 
of Israel, one of its institutions or an area under its control, in such a way that may cause 
economic, cultural or academic damage.
2. Boycott – a civil wrong:
A.     He who knowingly publishes a public call for a boycott against the State of Israel, 
where according to the content and circumstances of the publication there is reasonable 
probability that the call will lead to a boycott, and he who published the call was aware of 
this possibility, will be considered to have committed a civil wrong to which the Civil Tort 
Law [new version] is applicable.
B.     In regards to clause 62(A) of the Civil Tort Law [new version], he who causes a 
binding legal agreement to be breached by calling for a boycott against the State of Israel 
will not be viewed as someone who acted with sufficiently justified cause.
C.     If the court will find that a civil wrong, as defined by this law, was deliberately carried 
out, it will be authorized to compel the person who committed the wrongdoing to pay 
[punitive] damages that are independent of the actual damage caused; in calculating the 
sum of these damages, for example, the court will take into consideration, among other 
things, the circumstances under which the wrong was carried out, its severity and its extent."


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