PELONI: Why is Trump allowing this economic war against Israel to move forward unopposed with barely even a comment beyond his statement suggesting he would be looking into what is causing it. It has been nearly a month now since Britain announced the beginning salvo in this unwarranted and illegal economic war against Israel, and Trump’s failure to intervene calls to mind the legal motto of silence indicating consent, as he himself intercede in this illicit war being waged against Israel by the UK and its allies. America has a role to play in leading the world, as both the worlds’ military and economic superpower, but instead has remained silent, even as US companies have been exposed among the economic casualties of this war waged against Israel…
Ben Cohen
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International opprobrium towards the presence of Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria, commonly known as the West Bank, is discernibly shifting from rhetorical condemnation to economic and legal warfare.
Three episodes reported during the last week illustrate the trend. On September 26, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) issued an updated version of its database — described by Israel as a “blacklist” — that identifies Israeli and international businesses allegedly “involved in certain activities in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.” On September 28 — less than a week after The Netherlands’s ban on the import of goods from these communities went into effect — passengers who arrived at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport on a flight from Tel Aviv were subjected to “intrusive” searches of their baggage by Dutch customs officers. On September 29, three weeks after the British government announced a ban joined by 11 other western states, passengers disembarking a flight from Tel Aviv to the United Kingdom’s Luton Airport similarly reported extra screening of their baggage by the UK Border Force.
In addition, at the beginning of September, Luxembourg’s financial authority confirmed that it would no longer approve the prospectuses required under EU law to enable the sale of Israel government bonds.
These developments demonstrate that the architecture of sanctions and other punitive measures traditionally aimed at the adversaries of western democracies are now being applied to the State of Israel. Moreover, because supply chains connecting Israel with Judea and Samaria are closely intertwined, tracing a product’s origin to one side of the Green Line is practically impossible, meaning that measures ostensibly designed to affect a narrow set of targets, negatively impact the Israeli economy as a whole.
UN Human Rights Council Expands Database ‘Blacklist’
Launched in 2016 under Resolution 31/36 of the UN’s Human Rights Council — which during its existence has passed 116 resolutions condemning Israel, 16 on Iran, and 13 on Russia — the database naming companies allegedly involved in activities connected to Israeli communities in the disputed territories has been significantly expanded, with 214 companies now included compared to 158 in 2025.
While the great majority of the companies listed in the database are Israeli, it also includes American and European businesses. Six U.S. companies — Airbnb Inc., Booking Holdings Inc., Expedia Group Inc., Motorola Solutions Inc., RE/MAX Holdings Inc., and TripAdvisor Inc. — have been present since 2020. Two more were added this month: the nonprofits Friends of Ir David and HaYovel.
European Measures Now Given Legal Teeth
The OHCHR database is designed to galvanize both governments and private businesses, but it does not have the force of law underpinning it. This is not the case with the three European countries, two of whom are EU members. In the Dutch case, the importation of goods from Judea and Samaria as well as the Golan Heights can result in custodial sentences of up to six years and fines of up to 1.1 million euros. Similarly draconian penalties could be imposed in the United Kingdom once it completes the implementation of its ban over the next six to nine months.
In the case of Luxembourg, while no legal penalties are envisaged, preventing the sale of Israel bonds sends the unmistakable signal that the EU is ready to take measures punishing Israel on both sides of the Green Line. This may well encourage EU states hostile to Israel, such as Ireland and Spain, to push for the suspension or revocation of the EU-Israel Association Agreement in force since 2000.
The U.S. Must Protect American Companies Trading With Israel
The United States should act immediately to stymie economic warfare against Israel, particularly as it negatively impacts American companies, which conduct over $54 billion worth of trade with the Jewish state annually.
The Trump administration should tie the payment of $4 billion of arrears to the United Nations to a verifiable end to the OHCHR’s campaign of pressure against Israel. It should also seek to protect U.S. entities from exposure to the campaign, if necessary through reciprocal measures against participating UN entities and foreign governments.
Ben Cohen is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from the author and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow FDD on X @FDD. Follow Ben on X @BenCohenOpinion. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.
95% of the Jewish population of Holland went to the concentration camps! 95%!!!
While the US may intervene to some degree, they have their own interests at heart. The only way to face down these European countries so eager to punish Israel for the alleged crimes of actually being present in Judea and Samaria and creating improved living conditions for the Arabs living there is to counter their complaints with our own, and we have plenty of those.
For example, those regions of JS&G (Judea, Samaria and Gaza) were declared to be disputed rather than anything else. Those European countries have jumped to their preferred conclusion without waiting for the discussion or court appearance. Some of these countries were witnesses to the Oslo accords, which the Arabs declared dead long ago. It seems that these countries have faulty or non-existent memories when it comes to the agreements they witnessed with their own signatures.
On the other hand, they fully expect Israel to comply with all the details of these accords while the details that were expected of the Arabs (the so-called Palestinians) were conveniently forgotten. Furthermore, they have been trying for decades now to create facts on the ground by illegally (without permits) erecting buildings on ground that can be proven to belong to Israel and illegally building roads to those illegal Arab settlements after the buildings were put up and then illegally connecting the buildings to water, electricity and sewage lines without any thought of paying the bills. They also require Israel to provide food, energy and health care, while supporting the UNRWA in all these efforts.
The other thing that Israelis find unusual and interesting is that these same countries are being crowded with illegal Arab immigrants from almost every country in the region except Israel. These illegal immigrants swing their “Palestinian” flags everywhere. Arabs from JS&G are not welcome anywhere, so it is not them that are swinging the flags. Arabs in JS&G are required to remain where they are as a thorn in Israel’s side. Of course, the Europeans would gleefully deport any Arab from JS&G back to Israel. Haven’t ever heard of that!! Apparently, a few of those Arabs living in JS&G would be happy to become illegal immigrants in any of those countries as long as the VIP treatment continues.
UK in the hands of Islamo-Marxists!
Dutch! Its gov sent to the Nazi concentration camps the largest number of Jews in proportion to its Jewish population!!!
As long as the evils of Iran are not vaporized, the tide against the Jews will not be shifting.