The BDS movement is failing, Part 3

Here’s the third installment in our series of posts documenting BDS Fails. 

Political BDS fails

  • Federation of International Lacrosse rejected an attempt by the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign to have Israel banned. See letter from Stan Cockerton, FIL President.

Economic BDS fails

  • Two Israeli startups bought for $600 million in one day. The largest acquisition this week was made by American software giant Microsoft, which has reportedly agreed to buy Israeli [cyber-security] startup company Adallom for a whopping $320 million … The second Israeli startup [purchased by Israeli online software distribution and monetization company ironSource this week] for an estimated price of between $150-$300 million – is Supersonic, which monetizes mobile apps… Supersonic’s flagship product – virtual money for use in online games (primarily via Facebook) – is expected to help ironSource to penetrate the mobile sector, as most Facebook and social media activity occurs on mobile devices.
  • Britain’s trade with Israel reached a record high of £5.1 billion last year. UK-Israeli trade is at an all-time high, despite recent rumblings by the EU over the labelling of products from the West Bank and calls in some quarters for a boycott of Israeli goods. There is a raft of government initiatives to propagate growth spearheaded by a recent trip by Prime Minister David Cameron, as well as favourable tax treaties. Britain’s trade with Israel reached a record high of £5.1billion last year after doubling during the last decade. The UK is Israel’s second largest trading partner after the US.
  • Israel is helping California fight drought. California has been dealing with one of the worst water crises in its history. Last Thursday, following the growing cooperation, a delegation of Israeli companies in the field of water systems purification and management began holding a series of meetings in the West Coast of the United States. …”In Israel, water recycling for agricultural use reaches 85%, and in California it’s about 5%. The conference participants were very excited about what we showed them, like our success in preserving and restoring the aquifers. They didn’t know it was even possible to drip irrigation pipes in some of the agricultural industries.”
  • 70,360 passengers are expected to pass through Tel Aviv’s international airport on 430 flights on Thursday. A total of 430 flights were scheduled to arrive and depart on Thursday. Next month, in August, around 1.7 million passengers are expected to pass through the airport – a seven percent rise compared to last year…El Al was the busiest airline on this busiest day, followed by Aegean, Arkia, Turkish Airlines, Israir, and EasyJet.
  • Canada and Israel announced Tuesday that they have agreed to upgrade their bilateral free-trade agreement, in what could be a major boost to economic ties.  The revision will reduce transaction costs for businesses, support Canadian investment in Israel, increase transparency in regulatory matters and eliminate Israeli tariffs on a wide range of products …Two-way merchandise trade between the two nations stood at $1.6 billion in 2014, triple the amount when the free-trade agreement came into effect in its original iteration in 1997.
  • Coming soon: Direct flights from Tel Aviv to Tokyo. The aviation agreement signed last week during talks held in the Japanese capital will allow the introduction of a regular route between the two countries – both for Israeli and Japanese airlines. New aviation agreement will allow Israeli and Japanese airlines to operate up to 14 weekly flights in each direction.
  • Israeli teen is new face of Christian Dior. JERUSALEM – It’s a classic rags to riches story that’s almost too much of a cliché to be true, but last week an Israeli teenager with no previous modeling experience strode down the catwalk at Paris fashion week — as the leading model of fashion house Christian Dior.
  • Israel and China on Thursday signed an agreement to expand by $500 million a financial protocol that helps finance Israeli exports to China. The financial protocol, which since its inception in 1995 has reached a total of $2.6 billion, insures lines of credit Israeli banks issue for Chinese companies purchasing Israeli goods. Most of the transactions, according to the Finance Ministry, are in health and medical devices, although education, transportation, communications, infrastructure and agriculture are also included. Thursday’s deal represents the third expansion since 2012, and since 2010 it has led to 100 export transactions worth more than $1.1b in total.
  • Ryanair to fly to Israel for €29.99. The Irish airline, which has almost 40% of the market share of low-cost seats in Europe, announced Tuesday that it is starting to carry out “experimental” flights to Israel, as was first reported by Ynet.  In total, there will be six flights a week. “We intend to bring tourists from these destinations looking for a winter sun holiday,” O’Brien told Ynet.
  • Chinese firm to pay $90 million for Israeli biopesticide maker. Israel’s Stockton Group, a world leader in the biopesticide business, is being acquired by China’s Hebang Group. The Chinese firm will pay $90 million for 51% of Stockton’s shares. Hebang’s goal with this investment is to “support Stockton’s growth as a global leader in environmentally friendly biofungicides,” according to the Chinese firm.
  • Amazon to expand its operations in Israel. One of the last big tech firms to open a local R&D center, the e-commerce giant is now making up for lost time. In just a year and a half, Amazon has gone from simply supplying Israeli companies with cloud technology, to developing that technology here – and it’s hiring more than a hundred engineers and other tech personnel to fill new positions that are opening up in Israel.
  • Israel signs $111 million deal to upgrade Argentinian tanks. Agreement to ensure Buenos Aires able to develop its own technology in the future through joint projects with the Jewish state. The deal to upgrade the Argentinian Medium Tanks, or TAM, was signed in Buenos Aires by Argentina’s Minister of Defense Agustin Rossi and Mishel Ben-Baruch, director of the Israeli Ministry of Defense’s International Defense Cooperation Division. “This is an extremely important step, not only for the project but for the excellent relations between both countries. It’s also the beginning of a great friendship between the two ministries,” said Ben Baruch, who also praised the work done by Israeli and Argentinian technical teams to reach the agreement.

Cultural BDS fails

  • British Airways In-Flight magazine nominates Tel Aviv as “Best Vegan Traveler Destination”   “Almost one in 20 Israelis describes themselves as vegan, a number that feels much higher in the country’s second city,” writes Hardeep Singh Kohi in High Life, British Airways’ in-flight magazine. Even Domino’s in Tel Aviv serves vegan pizza. You’ll find many bearded hipsters enjoying the simple fare at Port Said, and the Georgian restaurant Nanuchka has a fresh take on meat-heavy Eastern European food. Of course, the vegan staple of falafel can be found virtually everywhere, but you can even get vegetarian shawarma at a restaurant appropriately named the Veg Shawarma.
  • Israeli tycoon will overhaul London’s Camden Market. Brits and tourists alike are in for a surprising new shopping experience at one of London’s popular tourist attractions. The historic Camden Market, which is famous for its offering of arts and crafts, is about to get a cutting-edge digital overhaul by its owner, Israeli billionaire Teddy Sagi.
  • Israeli shares prestigious EMBO award. The 2015 EMBO (European Molecular Biology Organization) Gold Medal has been awarded to Sarah Teichmann and Ido Amit. The EMBO Gold Medal is awarded to young scientists in recognition of outstanding achievements in the life sciences. Both researchers will receive a medal and an award of 10,000 Euros on 5 September 2015 at the opening session of The EMBO Meeting in Birmingham.  Ido Amit is Assistant Professor at the Immunology Department, Weizmann Institute of Science. He has received the 2015 EMBO Gold Medal for his work to reveal the function of the immune system. He is the first Israeli to receive this prestigious award.
  • Suede set to perform in Tel-Aviv The iconic British 90s alternative rock band Suede will be performing in Tel Aviv’s Yad Eliahu arena on July 30.This will be the band’s fifth visit to Israel and the first in four years. Band members Brett Anderson, Mat Osman, Simon Gilbert, Richard Oakes and Neil Codling will be playing some of their legendary classics including The Wild Ones, Animal Nitrate and Beautiful Ones as well as songs from their latest album.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_Q9-kRSEj0]

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