Anti-Israel activists are doubling down on the call to “globalize the intifada,” arguing that the world can simply boycott Israel to punish its government without suffering real consequences. But the fantasy of an Israel-free world collapses under one simple fact: global stability, medicine, and technology depend on Israeli innovation.
Boycotting Israel doesn’t just target one nation; it cripples the systems that make modern life possible. From hospital equipment to navigation software and defense technology, Israel’s fingerprints are everywhere. Without them, hospitals would fail, cars would crash, and entire industries would stall.
The Movement That Pretends to Be Moral
The “Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions” (BDS) movement markets itself as a peaceful protest, a way to pressure Israel into political change. Its supporters chant slogans about justice and freedom, insisting the global economy can simply “cut Israel out.”
But behind the moral packaging lies a call to dismantle Israel’s role in medicine, technology, and global security. The phrase “globalize the intifada” isn’t symbolic. It’s a demand to erase Israel’s presence from supply chains, universities, and research networks that sustain the modern world.
Even left-leaning governments that flirt with boycott rhetoric quietly know the truth. When Spain unveiled a new warship in September 2025, it came equipped with Israeli-made radar and defense systems, the same kind of technology boycott advocates want banned.
The World Runs on Israeli Innovation
From hospital operating rooms to smartphone screens, Israel’s technology powers the everyday tools the world takes for granted.
The PillCam, a swallowable camera used in hospitals worldwide, revolutionized internal medicine. Israeli trauma-care systems save soldiers and civilians alike. “If you want to boycott, it’s your decision,” wrote Roee Friedman in The Jerusalem Post, “but please, do it right. Prepare to live without search engines, social media, navigation tools, computers, and the list could fill this entire article.”
Navigation and safety tools like Waze, Mobileye, and advanced driver-assistance systems developed in Israel prevent countless traffic deaths every year. Israeli chip design and R&D feed into products from Intel, Apple, and Nvidia. Cut Israel out, and the world’s supply of semiconductors, sensors, and AI components grinds to a halt.
Economic Reality: Boycotts Backfire
Global economists agree that removing a top-tier innovation hub from the economy would slow growth, kill jobs, and undermine health and defense systems worldwide. Dr. Shmuel Legesse wrote in The Times of Israel Blogs, “Economic boycotts of Israel may be framed as moral acts of protest, but in practice, they are acts of self-harm.”
BDS campaigns have failed precisely because they hurt those who try to enforce them. When academic and tech boycotts were briefly implemented in Europe, hospitals, startups, and research labs immediately ran into shortages and licensing obstacles tied to Israeli patents and expertise.
Even in the Arab world, countries that once led boycotts now invest billions in Israeli water, food-tech, and defense solutions because survival, not ideology, demands it.
The Real Cost of “Globalizing the Intifada”
To boycott Israel means unplugging from the very systems that keep societies safe, efficient, and alive. The world doesn’t just buy Israeli products; it builds on Israeli invention. Remove Israel, and you don’t get moral purity; you get chaos.
Those who push to “cut Israel out” are really advocating a world less healthy, less safe, and less innovative. In practice, anti-Israel boycotts don’t isolate Israel; they isolate the people who believe in them.
