Economic boycott of Israel 'already here': Report

Foreign investors are treating Israeli firms as 'pariahs,' according to a senior Israeli banking executive

News Desk

JUN 3, 2024

A stock market ticker in the lobby of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, March 15, 2020. (Photo credit: Flash90)
A senior Israeli banking executive said that the current war on Gaza is driving investors to withdraw their funds from the Israeli economy, Yedioth Ahronoth reported on 3 June.

The executive said the amount is likely in the billions of shekels and noted a significant decline in the purchase of Israeli bonds, a phenomenon he has not seen in many years.

“We are becoming economically unwelcome, almost pariahs in some areas. Many companies are now at risk, as international entities impose an informal boycott on Israeli companies and factories, avoiding investments here,” he said.

While Israel has long been the target of divestment campaigns for its ongoing occupation of the West Bank, illegal Jewish settlement building on stolen Palestinian land, and human rights violations, the ongoing war on Gaza has damaged its international reputation further. Israeli forces have killed over 14,000 children in a campaign widely viewed as genocide.

Uncertainty about how long the war will last is also a concern for investors. The assault on Gaza has now reached its eighth month, with little success in defeating Hamas so far.

The senior banking official stressed, “The government must immediately develop an emergency plan to rescue business entities from a situation that could become a genuine threat to the stability of the Israeli economy. In times of war, we need strategies not only to eliminate figures like Sinwar, though that is important, but also to protect and sustain some of Israel's major economic enterprises, as well as small businesses.”

Seffy Zinger, Chairman of the Israel Securities Authority, also expressed concern, saying, “Even before the war, there was a decline in foreign investments in Israel. The war has accelerated this trend. Foreign investors have withdrawn over 34 billion shekels from the Israeli stock market since the beginning of the war – 8 billion from equities, 14 billion from government bonds, 6 billion from short-term loans, and 5 billion from corporate bonds. Israeli institutional investors have borne much of this burden.”