Ask Haviv Anything Episode 66: Do BDS campaigns help Palestinians?
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Dec 5, 2025 Dive into the controversial world of BDS campaigns and their impact on Palestinians. Explore the origins and goals of this movement, and how it tries to exert psychological pressure on Israel. Hear about the limitations of BDS in swaying Israeli security perceptions and its potential to backfire on progressive Israeli voices. Discover how selective targeting can breed anti-Jewish sentiment and ultimately harm the very people BDS aims to support. A thought-provoking discussion that challenges the efficacy of boycotts in fostering real change.
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Boycott Is Psychological Pressure
- A boycott is psychological pressure aimed at changing a target's perceived costs for its behavior.
- Haviv Rettig Gur argues BDS fails because it misreads Israeli cost calculations and thus cannot compel policy change.
BDS's Core Goal Undermines Its Effectiveness
- BDS explicitly aims to end a Jewish state and promote a single civic state between the river and the sea.
- Haviv Rettig Gur says this goal prevents BDS from raising costs that would make Israelis withdraw from the West Bank.
Perceived Existential Risks Drive Israeli Policy
- Israelis perceive withdrawal from the West Bank as an existential risk due to fears of Hamas control and narrowed territory.
- Gur doubts boycotts can outweigh that perceived existential cost to prompt withdrawal.