Sorry for Boycotting

Amnon Cavari

On Yom Kippur eve, Jewish communities across Israel and around the world will gather in synagogues to recite Kol Nidrei. This ancient and haunting prayer releases us from vows and prohibitions we placed upon ourselves during the past year. It is an invitation to begin anew.

This year, the spirit of Kol Nidrei feels particularly urgent. We are living through a time of sharp polarization and social estrangement. Surveys by the Institute for Liberty and Responsibility show that nearly half of Israelis have boycotted a media outlet in the past two years because of its political stance. One in four has refused to patronize a business (a company, shop, or restaurant) because its owner expressed views they oppose.

Boycotts now come from every direction. A restaurant in Tiberias was shunned after Minister Ben Gvir dined there. A hummus joint in Haifa was boycotted for supporting IDF soldiers. A bakery in Jerusalem lost customers because its owner criticized the ultra-Orthodox community. Our research reveals that boycotts are widespread in both political camps, although they are more common among coalition supporters (33%) than among opposition supporters (21%).

This is not just an Israeli phenomenon. In the United States, President Donald Trump routinely calls to boycott critics and rivals. And boycotts against Israeli and Jewish businesses are on the rise in the U.S. and Europe. A 2024 survey we conducted found that 16% of Americans support boycotting Jewish-owned businesses that back Israel, while 21% support boycotting Arab-owned businesses that back Hamas. In both cases, it is not identity but political position that drives the boycott.

Boycotts, of course, can be powerful tools for justice. Few of us would object to boycotting companies that abuse animals, discriminate, or pollute. Many admire the Montgomery bus boycott of the 1960s, when African Americans protested racial segregation. However, there is a distinction between boycotting injustice and boycotting someone for their views. The latter poisons open political debate and deepens divisions.

A vibrant democracy depends on protecting the right of citizens—and business owners—to express their views, even when we disagree. It is natural to prefer the news channel we like or to shop at places where we feel comfortable. But that is not the same as organizing to punish people who publicly hold different political views. When we do that, we brand them as enemies, erode trust, and fray the social fabric that binds us together.
As Yom Kippur approaches, we should extend the spirit of Kol Nidrei to our civic life: let us declare our boycotts null and void. Better yet, let us regret having embraced them in the first place. We do not need to agree with each other. But we must not cancel each other.

“And the whole community of the children of Israel shall be forgiven, and the stranger who sojourns among them, for all the people acted unwittingly.” (Numbers 15:26)

Amnon Cavari is an associate professor at the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy and head of the Institute for Liberty and Responsibility at Reichman University