JNS.org – The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has not harmed the Israeli economy, and in some cases Israel’s exports have grown in the regions in which the movement has the most traction, according to a recent report commissioned by the Knesset Finance Committee.

“So far, the attempts to boycott Israel have not hurt the Israeli economy on the macro scale. … The boycotts are able to hurt largely the end products of certain Israeli brands. However, since the majority of Israeli exports are intermediate goods, there has not been significant harm done to them,” the report said.

The study analyzed the economic effects of the BDS movement from 2000-2013. The study showed that during that time, Israel’s gross domestic product rose by 54 percent and its exports rose by 80 percent. In Europe, home to the majority of the BDS efforts, exports surged by 99 percent since 2000. Israel’s success in Europe indicates the ineffectiveness of the European Union boycott and tariff placement on products made beyond the 1949 armistice line.

Direct investment in Israel has also risen over the past decade, and that investment’s percentage of Israel’s GDP is higher compared to most developed nations. Perhaps most surprisingly, despite BDS efforts, the share of exported goods originating in Judea and Samaria and the Golan Heights has grown from 0.5 percent to 3.1 percent—and an overwhelming majority of that growth is from exports to the European Union.