April 22, 2023

North Dakota becomes 35th state to counter anti-Israel BDS

The North Dakota State Capitol in Bismarck. Credit: Farragutful via Wikimedia Commons. (JNS) — North Dakota has become the 35th state to pass a law countering the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel. The legislation — with nine sponsors […]
April 18, 2023

Florida CFO warns Norway against divesting from Israel

by Mike Wagenheim (JNS) — Ahead of a visit to Israel by Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Sunshine State’s chief financial officer told JNS that Norway is out of line in considering divesting from the Jewish state. Jimmy Patronis, […]
February 10, 2023

Madrid offers partnership after Barcelona ends relationship with Tel Aviv

The Royal Palace of Madrid. Photo by Menachem Wecker. (JNS) — Call it the Spanish Reacquisition. What one Spanish city taketh away, another one giveth. On Feb. 8, Barcelona’s mayor announced she was leading her city down a BDS path, […]
February 9, 2023

Pro-Israel groups continue to press Morningstar on anti-Israel investment bias

At Morningstar, Inc. in Chicago, August 20, 2019. Source: Facebook. by Mike Wagenheim (JNS) — A coalition of U.S. Jewish and pro-Israel groups is treading carefully while pursuing unfulfilled commitments from investment firm Morningstar, Inc. in the way it assigns […]
October 31, 2022

Morningstar announces substantive changes to how it rates Israeli companies

Morningstar financial-services building in downtown Chicago. Credit: Adriana.Macias/Shutterstock. by Mike Wagenheim (JNS) — Following an extended period of wrangling, the investment firm Morningstar reached an agreement on Oct. 31 with pro-Israel organizations to alter its methodology in rating the risk […]
August 18, 2022

FIFA World Cup Hospitality Website Continues to List “Palestine” Instead of Israel

Soccer ball. Credit: Needpix.com. (JNS) — The FIFA World Cup, which is set to take place in Qatar from Nov. 21 through Dec. 18, has a website that offers the public help in purchasing hospitality packages, but Israelis looking for […]
August 11, 2022

Several states examining “backdoor BDS” at investment ratings firm Morningstar

Morningstar financial-services building in downtown Chicago. Credit: Adriana.Macias/Shutterstock. by Mike Wagenheim (JNS) — Following last week’s Reuters report that Missouri’s attorney general opened an investigation into the practices of the Chicago-based investment research firm Morningstar and its subsidiary, Sustainalytics, multiple […]
July 7, 2022

Losing the semantic battle but winning the war against BDS

by Mitchell Bard (JNS) — One aspect of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is literally a war of words. Words are powerful weapons, and both sides seek the adoption of their preferred nomenclature to influence public opinion. Israel and its supporters have […]
July 1, 2022

BDS loses as Unilever ends Ben & Jerry’s boycott in the territories

Ben & Jerry’s Israel franchisee Avi Zinger. Credit: Eric Sultan. by Dmitriy Shapiro (JNS) — The ice-cream battle between Ben & Jerry’s and its Israeli distributor may have been resolved, but the repercussions continue to reverberate in what many considered […]
April 28, 2022

Israel must be so clean, as haters accuse country of “washing” everything

by Mitchell Bard (JNS) — The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism is increasingly recognized as authoritative. It states simply: “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and […]
February 6, 2022

Israel’s justice minister approves sanctions against Ben & Jerry’s

Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream in a grocery-store freezer. Credit: Ho Su A Bi/Shutterstock.com. (JNS) — Israeli Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar approved on Feb. 5 the sanctioning of ice-cream manufacturer Ben & Jerry’s and its parent company, Unilever Global, for its […]