It’s not only abroad that Israeli Judean-Samarian wines that already suffer discrimination. Here in Israel Leftist Israelis boycott it.
Given that some in Israel have accused international boycott advocates of being anti-Semitic, such domestic parallels are a sensitive issue. Yoram Cohen, of the Tanya winery in the settlement of Ofra, called the Israeli boycotters “trendy” hypocrites who had no problem purchasing wine from countries with much worse human rights records. Berg said he was afraid that a vocal minority was “poisoning” the public discourse and influencing others to shun settlement products… …Along with other West Bank wineries, Berg recently went public with news that dozens of Tel Aviv restaurants were boycotting their wines in hopes of shaming them into reversing course. The Associated Press contacted more than a dozen Tel Aviv restaurants, including some named by settlers. All refused to discuss the subject. It wasn’t just the fear of alienating clients that likely deterred them from speaking but also a 2011 law in Israel that could expose them to lawsuits if a boycott became official. The law did not make a boycott call a criminal offense, but rather a civil issue that could trigger financial compensation. There is no actual precedent of this happening yet.
Grapes are traditional crops here in the Biblical Heartland. Even totally incompetent gardeners like me and my husband manage to grow large quantities of grapes. We haven’t tried our hand at making wine, but many people in our area, Benjamin Regional Council have.
I find it extremely upsetting and a horrendously dangerous precedent for the Israeli Government to cooperate with the anti-Israel boycott movement.
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