Israeli minister: BDS campaign more anti-Semitic than alt-right

Alleged anti-Jewish hatred from the far-left is more significant than that from the far-right; Israeli Diaspora Minister Naftali Bennett has told the Times of Israel.

In an interview last week, Bennet argued that the sight of Nazi flags at a rally in Charlottesville, as well as white supremacist slogans “Jews will not replace us”, were not as significant a form of anti-Semitism as the Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israeli produce.

“We see the lions’ share of anti-Semitism is actually BDS, pro-Arab, anti-Israeli anti-Semitism, which is on the rise. That would be, let’s call it, radical left anti-Semitism.”

Bennett, who leads the right-wing Jewish Home party and has been termed “Minister of the Jews”, called on national leaders to do more to protect their Jewish citizens from such anti-Semitic behaviour, but refrained from criticising the muted responses of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump following the alt-right rally.

“We view ourselves as having a certain degree of responsibility for every Jew in the world, just for being Jewish. But ultimately it’s the responsibility of the sovereign nation to defend its citizens.”

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His comments echo those recently made by Netanyahu’s son, who identified “Antifa [anti-fascist] bandits and Black Lives Matter” movements as more dangerous than neo-Nazis whose influence was allegedly waning on a Facebook post. Yair Netanyahu criticised the popularity of such movements, especially at universities where student activism for Palestine has surged.

Zionist lobbyists have attempted to label the BDS movement as anti-Semitic continuously since its inception.

Pro-Palestinian activists deny the allegation, stating that the campaign opposes all forms of racism, including anti-Semitism and targets Israel for its violations of international law. The BDS movement also cites its numerous Jewish supporters as evidence that this is not an issue of race or faith, but solidarity with Palestinians against illegal occupation.

Read: Zionists give supporters of Israel a free past for their anti-Semitism