The Strategic Affairs Ministry on Wednesday, headed by Minister Orit Farkash-Hacohen, dispatched a memorandum to diplomatic and defense officials about the effects of Israel's normalization deals with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain on anti-Israel and pro-BDS organizations.
According to the memo, the willingness to advance normalization with Israel could bankrupt the idea behind the boycott, divestment and sanction movement, which anti-Israel groups have sought to implement for two decades. On the practical level, the UAE's unprecedented decision to annul its boycott law, in addition to reports that Bahraini authorities intend to reel in opposition to normalization, impede these groups' ability to implement their boycotts measures on the ground and also impair the ideology they want to perpetuate.
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The groups that want to de-legitimize Israel have accused the UAE and Bahrain of "betraying" the Palestinian national interest. At the same time, they have organized numerous protests outside the White House and embassies in the US, Israel, UAE and Bahrain, petitioned students on college campuses and launched campaigns in Arabic and English against the treaties.
According to the Strategic Affairs Ministry, their current distress will lead normalization oppositionists, chief among them the Palestinian Authority, and possibly Hamas and Iran, to tighten cooperation. Additionally, they will focus their efforts on international institutions, specifically the International Criminal Court at The Hague and the United Nations Human Rights Council, where there views are broadly supported.
In its memo, the Strategic Affairs Ministry also suggested the current diplomatic developments provide an opportunity to pull the rug out from under these de-legitimization and BDS groups and impair their ability to implement their initiatives in the Arab and Western worlds.
"The [normalization] treaties are a clear message to all our enemies against hate and boycotts," said Farkash-Hacohen. "They prove to these organizations – which have incessantly preached against normalization and invested resources in entrenching their screed across the Arab world – that the path to stability in the Middle East only goes through cooperation and dialogue."
She added: "I sincerely hope that our closest neighbors realize that opposition to normalization won't lead to a sustainable peace and will only perpetuate the circle of violence. This is a historic turning point in terms of economic, tourist, cultural and commercial cooperation, pertaining to all aspects of life in the Middle East, and it will help legitimize Israel in the minds of many. These partnerships will create the change for which we yearn."
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