Israeli minister calls for 'blacklist' of organisations supporting BDS

Israeli Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan has proposed that Israel set up a committee to blacklist organisations and individuals which advocate for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Tuesday.

According to the news outlet, Erdan first recommended the maintenance of the blacklist to Israeli Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, before sending these recommendations to the treasury.

Erdan’s proposal would block the blacklisted entities from bidding on government tenders or receiving financial benefits from the Israeli government.

The news comes days after Israeli authorities denied entry into Israel to Malawi citizen Isabel Phiri, in what Israeli media reported was “the first time” the country “officially” denied entry to a foreign national who allegedly supports the movement for Palestinian rights. Isabel Phiri is the World Council of Churches’ associate general secretary.

Read: Church group official denies Israeli ban was due to BDS activism

The Israeli government has grown increasingly concerned about the growth of the BDS movement, as the movement’s support base has expanded to include companies, universities and religious institutions around the world divesting from organisations complicit in Israel’s violation of Palestinian rights.

A bill banning supporters of the BDS movement from entering Israel was first submitted for consideration to the Israeli Knesset last month.

Meanwhile, Israeli Minister of the Interior Aryeh Deri and Erdan announced in August that they were forming a joint task force to “expel and ban the entry of BDS activists” into Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory.

Note: This page was updated at 18:11 GMT on 9 December 2016 to correct a factual error – it is not know if Isabel Phiri is a BDS activist – she was accused of being a BDS activist by the Israeli media, allegedly based on sources from the Israeli Ministry of Interior.