Ha'aretz: Gaza War Has Revived BDS Big Time

Its supporters couldn't have done it without Israel's monstrous assist

For years, BDS was mostly noise. Petitions, campus votes, a few boycotts that didn’t matter. Now, it’s biting hard. Cultural, commercial, and academic ties are falling apart across Europe and the U.S. (Next up: Israel banned from sporting events (football, basketball) and Eurovision, which will bring the price of the occupation and Gaza home to even the most dimwitted Israeli).

Look at one case. Paris’s top culinary school, Ferrandi, pulled the plug on a partnership with Israel’s Bishulim Institute. The plan was simple: Israeli grads would train in Paris, French chefs would teach in Tel Aviv. Bishulim’s director called it a huge achievement.

Then came Gaza. After Israel bombed Nasser Hospital, killing civilians and journalists, Ferrandi sent an email: the program is suspended. Reason? “The political climate in your country.”

For Bishulim, it’s a body blow. “Israeli cuisine built a great name for itself,” the director said. “But that’s disappearing.”

And it’s not just food. In the past decade, Israeli cuisine became trendy. Michelin stars abroad. Tel Aviv on every “best of” list. Food writers swooning over Mediterranean fusion. The Foreign Ministry even sent chefs out as cultural ambassadors. It worked — for a while.

That’s over. Since the war, the brand has soured. Restaurants shuttered. International projects canceled. Chefs facing boycotts, graffiti, threats. As Haaretz put it: what was once a promising wave is now radioactive. The plug has been pulled on the “start-up nation.”

Same story everywhere. Israeli products pulled off shelves. Musicians canceling shows. Universities backing away. BDS hasn’t grown stronger. Gaza did the work for it.

For years, Israel mocked BDS as fringe activism. They were right. But now, when France’s top culinary school cuts ties, when distributors drop Israeli spirits, when hotel groups quietly walk away — that’s not activism. That’s the mainstream doing the math.

And it’s all self-inflicted. Netanyahu chose maximum killing force in Gaza. He shrugged off civilian deaths. He assumed the world wouldn’t care. He was wrong. What could’ve stayed a fringe cause is now the daily business of corporations, universities, and cultural institutions.

The Bishulim story shows how it spreads. A canceled cooking program may sound trivial next to Gaza’s destruction. But soft power matters. Cuisine was one of Israel’s best ambassadors. That door is now slammed shut.

And this is only the beginning. This is the tip of the iceberg. More boycotts are coming. More deals will collapse. More reputations will rot.

For Israelis, this is Netanyahu’s (and his government, the US, the lobby, and their supporters here) greatest “gift.” On top of the October 7th failures. On top of the indelible stamp of genocide. He’s saddled his people with a long tail of boycotts and exclusions that will long outlast the war; a gift that will keep giving. It’s beyond irony that the people who scream the most about Israel being “delegitimized” are the ones who accomplished it.

BDS never dreamed of such a victory. It took Israel and its supposed supporters to deliver it.