Analysis: Israel sees threat from Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions movement

Reuters- Foreign protests, boycotts, embargoes and sanctions, along with internal resistance, helped bring about the isolation and eventually the end of apartheid in South Africa in the 1990s.

Now Israelis fear pro-Palestinian, or anti-Israeli, activists are using the same tactics against their country, with increasing effect.

Carlos Santana, Gil Scott Heron, Elvis Costello, Gorillaz Sound System, the Klaxons, the Pixies, Faithless, Leftfield, Tindersticks, Meg Ryan and film director Mike Leigh have all decided not to go to Israel in recent months.

Some older, established acts -- Paul McCartney, Elton John and Rod Stewart among them -- have ignored boycott pressure.

The activist website boycottisrael.info keeps count.

Israeli analysts say pressure is brought to bear on artists by a global "delegitimisation network."

STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS

White South Africa was ostracized in a campaign lasting years. Today, Facebook and Twitter can flash protest messages globally in seconds, putting pressure on entertainers to stay away from Israel, and drawing the attention of millions of fans.

For Israel, it is not just a matter of feeling isolated and misunderstood. There are serious strategic implications.

With U.S.-brokered peace negotiations at a standstill since September, Palestinians feel they are "in the driver's seat," according to Yuval Diskin, head of Israel's Shin Bet internal security agency, in an assessment to parliament.

"This process is gaining momentum," he said. "There is a growing trend toward recognizing a Palestinian state, and a decrease in Israel's ability to maneuver diplomatically."

No country has recognized Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem or its settlements in the occupied West Bank. It is equally unlikely that the United States and allies would recognize a unilateral Palestinian declaration of statehood.

Major powers and the United Nations insist the only durable solution to the Middle East conflict is a negotiated settlement leading to creation of a Palestinian state. Both Israel and the Palestinians say they are committed to that elusive goal.

Nevertheless, Israel is worried that some unilateral move -- perhaps at the U.N. General Assembly in September -- could be a game-changer, marking a diplomatic triumph that those bent on the ultimate destruction of the Jewish state would relish. Read more