Israel Matzav

Danish Bank boycotting Israeli bank, Swedish bank on its way to doing the same

A Danish bank is boycotting Bank HaPoalim because its mortgage branch lends money for construction in Judea and Samaria, and a Swedish bank has asked for 'clarifications' from Bank Leumi and Mizrachi Tefahot regarding the same issue.

Sweden’s Nordea Bank and Denmark’s Danske Bank have both taken steps against Israeli banks involved in construction in the settlements, Walla reported on Saturday.

Danske bank, the largest in Denmark, recently said on its website that it was boycotting Bank Hapoalim for “legal and ethical” reasons. And Nordea Bank, the largest in Scandinavia, has asked for clarifications from Bank Leumi and Mizrahi- Tefahot Bank regarding their activities beyond the Green Line.

The ministerial meeting to discuss the boycotts was canceled last week, because of tension between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett.

Kudos to US Secretary of State John FN Kerry for orchestrating the boycott.

But the truth is that something much more significant happened in New York last week. This is from the first link.

Over the weekend, Bennett – citing a New York State legislative initiative – said that it was “possible to boycott the boycotters.” His remark came in a conversation with New York State Sen. Jeffrey Klein, who sponsored a bill that would suspend funding to educational institutions that fund groups that boycott Israel.

The legislation passed the chamber by a 56-4 vote, and would ban state funding to colleges that fund organizations boycotting “countries that host higher education institutions chartered by the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York.”

The bill was in response to the American Studies Association’s recent boycott of Israeli universities.

Bennett told Klein, who represents parts of Bronx and Westchester counties, that this legislation was an “expression of moral clarity and moral courage at a time when most of the world is silent in the face of actions taken against Israel.”

A similar bill introduced in the State Assembly last month by Speaker Sheldon Silver has 48 sponsors among the chamber’s 150 members.

If it passes there, it will go to Gov. Andrew Cuomo for his signature before becoming a New York State law.

I think that we ought to make sure that those who boycott us do so completely.

Let's go to the videotape (which is desperately in need of updating - this is from 2008!).

Labels: BDS, boycott divest sanction, boycott Israel, Denmark, European anti-Semitism, John Kerry, Middle East peace process, Swedish anti-Semitism

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:05 AM