Members of the European Parliament want an end to financial ties with BDS advocates. Photo: File.

More than 60 members of the European Parliament have signed a letter to Federica Mogherini, the EU’s Foreign Affairs Representative, demanding an end to EU funding and commercial transactions with groups supporting the BDS campaign against Israel.

In an echo of the anti-BDS legislation passed by 24 states in the US since 2015, the letter urged that “no public funds go to organizations calling for a boycott of the State of Israel, and to instruct agencies not to engage with companies, organizations or other entities involved with the BDS movement.”

Romanian MEP Cristian Dan Preda, who represents the conservative group in the European parliament, told the European Jewish Press that the letter was also a call for a boost in relations with Israel. “It’s in the interest of this House, and of our citizens, to see an upgrade in the partnership agreement with Israel. We should not allow the current stalemate in the peace process to dictate the terms of our relationship with Israel,” he said.

Swedish MEP Lars Adaktusson added that the letter to Mogherini was intended to highlight that “the Union, and the Parliament, is in danger of being deemed irrelevant as a peace broker if it fails to address the incitement on its own soil against Israel.”

The letter called on Mogherini to “address the incitement to hatred and violence and discriminatory practice of calls for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against the State of Israel.”