Assessment in Israel: "Peace Agreements - A Hit for BDS" | Israel today

Ministry of Strategic Affairs: "Agreements will harm the ability of boycott organizations to operate in the Arab and Western world" • Minister Farkash-Hacohen: "This is a clear message against hatred and boycotts to all our enemies, opposition to normalization will only perpetuate the cycle of violence."

The Ministry of Strategic Affairs, headed by Minister Orit Farkash-Hacohen, today (Thursday) sent a document to a number of political and security officials dealing with the impact of the normalization agreements with Israel on de-legitimization and boycott organizations.

According to the document, the willingness to promote normalization with Israel may empty the idea of ​​a boycott, which the organizations have been trying to instill for about two decades.

On a practical level, the Emirates' precedent-setting decision to repeal the boycott law, as well as the publications that the Bahrain authorities intend to narrow the activities of those who oppose normalization, undermine their ability to promote de facto boycotts and also consciously undermine the idea the organizations are trying to promote.

Bahrain, the Emirates and Israel sign peace agreements // Photo: GPO

The delegitimization organizations sharply accuse the Emirates and Bahrain of "betrayal" of Palestinian national interests.

At the same time, they are working to hold a series of demonstrations in front of the White House and the embassies of the United States, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, sign petitions and promote online campaigns in Arabic and English against the agreements.

According to the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, the organizations' distress will lead to closer ties with those who oppose the agreements, led by the Palestinian Authority, and possibly also with Hamas and Iran.

They will also focus on special efforts with international institutions, led by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which is expected to make a decision in the near future, and the UN Human Rights Council, where they enjoy broad support.

According to the ministry, this is an opportunity to drop the ground under the arguments of the delegitimization organizations against normalization with Israel.

This will impair their ability to advance their practical activities in the Arab and Western world.

This, while presenting them as partners in the "resistance camp" (Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah) and as actors working to harm the peace process in the Middle East.

At the same time, it is important to promote the concept of normalization with Israel among these audiences.

Farkash-Hacohen said that "the agreements are a clear message against hatred and boycotts for all our enemies. They prove to those organizations, which have constantly preached condemnation of normalization and invested resources to root their doctrine throughout the Arab world, that the path to stability in the Middle East is through cooperation and dialogue." .

"I sincerely hope that even our closest neighbors will internalize that opposition to normalization will not lead to lasting peace, but will only perpetuate the cycle of violence. This is a historic turning point in opportunities for economic, tourism, cultural and commercial cooperation in all aspects of Middle East "Israel. Such partnerships are what will create the change we long for."