Publications

In December 2013, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas stated that he does not support a boycott of Israel.1 Two years later, in a speech before the Greek parliament in Athens, Abbas said that he wants a peace agreement that would connect the Palestinian Authority to Israel rather than a fence separating the two peoples.2 Despite these declarations indicating that the Palestinian Authority did not share the same orientation as the BDS movement, its actual policy matched, at least partially, the boycott strategy against Israel, both in the use of delegitimization rhetoric and in the call for boycotts of products. For example, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah signed a cabinet resolution in late March 2016 banning the import of goods made by five Israeli companies into Palestinian markets: Tnuva, Strauss, Tara, Soglowek, and Jafora-Tabori.3 Previous decisions by the Palestinian cabinet also supported a boycott of products. This article examines the use made by the Palestinian Authority of a boycott of products and delegitimization, explains the reasons that have led the Palestinian Authority to adopt these means since 2014, and indicates ways of action likely to help Israel cope with Palestinian use of these sanctions.