Netanyahu: Israel Can Combat the BDS Movement Through Its Thriving HighTech Industry

While addressing a delegation at the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of rising anti-Semitism in Europe, and how to combat the Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions Movement against Israel, notably, through Israel’s thriving hightech sector.

Those who support the movement are “classical anti-Semites in modern garb,” he began.

“I think the most eerie thing, the most disgraceful thing, is to have people on the soil of Europe talking about the boycott of Jews,” he added. “I think that is an outrage. That is something we are re-encountering. In the past, anti-Semites boycotted Jewish businesses and today, they call for the boycott of the Jewish state.”

The BDS movement against Israel has been a hot topic as of late, accentuated by the recent SodaStream vs Oxford controversy following Scarlett Johansson’s decision to leave her position as spokesperson for the latter, and defending SodaStream’s commitment to peace and equality in the region.

Netanyahu spoke about how we can combat this movement, however: via Israel’s thriving hightech sector.

Israel, which leads the world in research and development, and second only to Silicon Valley when it comes to startups in the industry, continues to make headlines for its innovative technology. Throughout this week alone Google acquired Israel’s SlickLogin for their revolutionary take on security technology, and Japan’s own Rakuten purchased Israeli-based Viber, for $900 million.

With these in mind, Netanyahu mentioned that he met with several heads of international high-tech companies, and that they “all want the same three things: Israeli technology, Israeli technology, and Israeli technology.”