Seeing Movement Backfire, Israel Prosper, Other Countries Demand BDS Target Them Too

If one were to construct an investment portfolio only of firms BDS dislikes, such a portfolio would outperform index funds by a significant margin.

London, February 5 – Economists and financial experts are advising governments to be targeted by the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions movement against Israel, as Israel’s economy has flourished since the launch of BDS early last decade.

A report by Britain’s Office of the Exchequer and a European Union investigative committee report this week each highlighted the benefits of having BDS focus a country to call for its diplomatic, political, cultural, economic, and academic isolation. The reports noted that since BDS was formally announced at a conference in South Africa more than 15 years ago, Israel has vaulted to the top tier of the world’s economies and consistently ranks high on innovation, freedom, and prosperity indices. By becoming the focus of BDS attention, argue the report authors, countries can replicate Israel’s achievements and all but guarantee a burgeoning economy.

“We propose that the government work to become a target of the Boycott Israel movement,” read the Exchequer report. “The performance of Israel’s economy during the period of BDS activity indicates that objects of BDS ire prosper more than those whom BDS does not target, and the government must consider the benefits of being subject to BDS.”

The EU report noted that the benefits of being subject to BDS are not restricted to the success of the nation BDS call to boycott. “The movement’s efforts consist largely of harassing corporate, academic, cultural, or political entities with ties to Israel,” it observed. “This includes hounding groups of investors, such as universities and pension funds, not to invest in stocks of firms that do business with or in Israel. But if one were to construct an investment portfolio only of firms BDS dislikes, such a portfolio would outperform index funds by a significant margin, even in this era of record-high stock markets.”

Experts not involved in the compilation of the reports seconded the assessment. “It’s a no-brainer,” asserted Dolores Midas, a senior analyst at Goldman Sachs. “The only concern, of course, would be that so many countries jumping to be targeted by BDS might dilute the desired effect. A prudent approach would probably involve a tiered, scalable process by which BDS could be applied to new targets on a gradual basis and the effects of that expansion studied before the next stage proceeds.”

“A global economy based on universal BDS could be a boon to all,” she added. “It wouldn’t surprise me to find that universal BDS forms a platform of every major policy initiative from here on in.”

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