Strategic Assessment
Research Forum | January 2014
On more than one occasion, the international community, led by the United States and Europe, has levied sanctions against Israel. Such sanctions were intended either to change Israel’s policy or to condemn Israel’s actions, at times in order to promote different domestic and/or foreign policy goals. Examining several cases of sanctions, this article finds that only in one case – the US coercion of Israel in 1956-57 to withdraw from the Sinai Desert — did the threat of sanctions clearly produce a change in Israeli behavior. This suggests that sanctions against Israel are more likely to be effective when they focus on a distinct issue rather than when they attempt to change a general policy, even one as politically charged as settlements.
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