Iceland Government Backs Away From Capital City’s Israel Boycott
The national government of Iceland said it does not support a decision by Reykjavik, its capital city, to boycott Israeli products.
Iceland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday said the resolution approved by the City Council of Reykjavik earlier this week is “not in line” with its foreign policy, the Times of Israel reported. The symbolic resolution calls for a boycott of Israeli goods and condemns Israel’s “policy of apartheid.”
The foreign ministry also said the resolution also does not reflect on Iceland’s relations with the State of Israel, a spokesman said in an email to the Israeli news site.
In 2013 through this year, Iceland’s imports from Israel totaled roughly $6 million, mostly machinery and Dead Sea chemicals, according to the Times of Israel.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry condemned the Reykjavik resolution.
“For no reason or justification, except hatred for its own sake, calls of boycotting the state of Israel are heard,” its statement said. “We hope someone in Iceland will come to their senses and end the one-sided blindness fielded against Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30