Britain wants to boycott products made by Jews in Yehuda V’Shomron.
Then perhaps Britain should start looking at everything else Israeli innovation has helped build.
Start with the iPhone.
Apple is hiring engineers in Israel today to work on next-generation Apple silicon, camera hardware, advanced optics, Wi-Fi and other technology that goes directly into Apple products. Its Israeli engineering operations stretch across Herzliya, Jerusalem and Haifa.
So when the newest iPhone reaches Britain, perhaps the people cheering an Israeli boycott should leave it on the shelf.
But don’t stop there.
Look at the car.
Even Tesla’s rise in autonomous driving has an Israeli chapter. Israeli-founded Mobileye supplied chips and software for Tesla’s early Autopilot system before the companies ended their relationship in 2016.
That means one of the most famous technology companies of the modern era once depended on Israeli-developed technology to help build one of its signature products.
Then look at the rest of the automotive industry.
Mobileye, founded in Jerusalem, went on to become one of the world’s most important companies in driver-assistance and automotive safety technology.
Now check your computer.
Israeli engineers have played major roles in developing Intel processors and technologies that helped shape modern mobile computing.
Check your cybersecurity.
Check Point was founded in Israel and helped pioneer technology at the foundation of modern network security.
Check the little device people carried in their pockets for years before cloud storage became commonplace.
Israeli company M-Systems helped commercialize the USB flash drive and change the way the world moved digital information.
Check the cloud.
Israeli engineers work at some of the world’s biggest technology companies building semiconductors, networking systems, artificial intelligence and infrastructure powering the modern digital economy.
Then look up.
Iron Dome.
David’s Sling.
Arrow.
And look at the battlefield.
Trophy.
Israel has built systems designed to intercept rockets and missiles in the sky and destroy incoming anti-tank threats before they strike soldiers.
These aren’t slogans.
They are technologies built to solve problems the world actually has.
Which raises a question Britain should answer before congratulating itself on another boycott:
What have you contributed to mankind in this new technological era while trying to punish the people helping build it?
Britain is free to disagree with Israel politically.
It is free to argue over borders, diplomacy and policy.
But something becomes deeply hypocritical when Britain happily enjoys Israeli innovation while deciding that a Jewish farmer, manufacturer or business owner becomes economically unacceptable because of where he lives.
The Israeli engineer is good enough to help build your phone.
Israeli technology is good enough for your car.
Israeli cybersecurity is good enough for your bank.
Israeli innovation is good enough for your computer.
Israeli defense technology is good enough when missiles start flying.
But the Jewish businessman in Yehuda V’Shomron?
Boycott him.
That is the contradiction.
Britain’s government announced this week that it intends to restrict trade in goods from Israeli communities in Yehuda V’Shomron as part of a coordinated move with other countries.
The products targeted may represent only a small piece of global commerce.
But the principle Britain is embracing is much bigger.
It wants the economic power to determine which Jews may participate in international commerce depending upon which side of a politically disputed line they live.
Meanwhile, Israel keeps building.
A country with a population smaller than many of the world’s great metropolitan areas has produced companies, engineers and technologies that have reached into phones, computers, cars, hospitals, data centers and military systems across the globe.
Israel did not get there by boycotting Britain.
It got there by innovating.
By taking risks.
By solving problems.
By turning ideas into products that billions of people can benefit from.
And that is why Britain’s boycott deserves a response that goes beyond diplomatic statements.
If you genuinely believe Israeli economic activity should be rejected, then be consistent.
Don’t just boycott the easy product with “Made in Israel” written on the package.
Look inside the technology you depend on.
Look at your new iPhone.
Look at the history of Tesla.
Look at your computers.
Look at your cars.
Look at your cybersecurity.
Look at your cloud infrastructure.
Look at the technology protecting soldiers and civilians from missiles.
Then ask yourselves the same question you apparently feel entitled to ask Israel:
What have you contributed to mankind lately?
Israel’s answer is sitting in your pocket, driving down your streets, running through your networks and defending lives.
So Britain, if you really want to boycott Israel, go ahead.
Start with the iPhone.
Then Tesla.
Then the technology you depend on.
Let us know how far you get.
JBizNews Desk | New Jersey
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