Inside Story

Is ‘Brand Israel’ under threat?

As the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement gains traction, how will the country deal with the pressure?

Aimed at highlighting Palestinian rights and the occupation, the BDS movement has pressured academics and even pop stars not to visit Israel.

The Israeli government has described the international campaign to boycott Israel as a strategic threat.

The campaign is gaining momentum, with the Israeli finance minister warning that his country is vulnerable to a boycott from the European Union, Israel’s biggest trading partner.

BDS has influenced the laws of EU states, who are now barred from cooperating with Israeli companies that are linked to the occupied territories. But some Israelis say the BDS movement is just a way of delegitimizing their country, and have even called it anti-semitic.

On Inside Story, Just how effective is the call for boycott? And will it push Israel to change its policies?

Presenter: Adrian Finigan

Guests: Avraham Burg, the former chairman of the Knesset

Dani Dayan, the former chairman of the Yesha Council of Jewish Settlements

Naser Abdelkarim, a financial economist and advisor to the UN and the World Bank