«Israel should respond to recent PA boycott measures by imposing higher taxes on Palestinian products and blocking the transfer of goods into Israel».

This is a suggestion from vice premier and cabinet minister Silvan Shalom during a visit to Ariel yesterday.

Silvan ShalomPalestinian Authority officials said they will not be deterred in their efforts to enforce a boycott against goods from Jewish settlements after Israeli leaders warned on Tuesday they may respond with sanctions against Palestinian businesses.

But PA spokesman Dr. Ghassan al-Khatib countered that threats by «settler leaders and manufacturers as well as by ministers and settler sympathizers do not deter us… We are not interested in maintaining the welfare of settlements any longer».

He added that the campaign is directed only at settlement products and not at other Israeli goods. «As far as we are concerned and the entire world is concerned, the settlements are illegal according to international law – and what is being produced in them is illegal».

«Threats are meaningless as Palestinian goods don’t end up in the Israeli market due to the occupation, while the Palestinian market is open to Israeli products» a source in Ramallah added, noting that the balance of trade indicates $3 billion worth of Israeli goods hit the Palestinian market per year compared to USD 400 million worth of Palestinian goods in Israeli markets.

Source: ICEJ.org

My comment:

An Israeli boycott of the Arab Palestinians is not a good idea. It will only brand Israel as a nation that harms other people.

The Messiah Jesus told the Jews: Bless your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.

He is the only way for Israel. The Jewish nation is not like other nations. It is formed by divine intervention, and God of the Bible is the only true protector of the statehood and its people.