The BDS movement is leading a change in public opinion in Western societies in regards to Israel. The rapidly growing widespread support for Palestinian rights is making it harder for governments to maintain their unconditional support for Israel,
In the US, where the Israel lobby has a strong hold on Congress, polls indicate an unprecedented determining shift in the so-called “bipartisan” support for Israel in the country.
A 2015 Luntz poll of “opinion elites” shows that 76% of Democratic opinion shapers say Israel has too much influence in the US, with 47% of Democrats agreeing that Israel is a “racist” country. Close to 31% of those leading Democrats, the poll shows, are ready to support BDS.
Another poll from 2015 shows that 49% of Democrats favor “sanctions or more serious action” against on Israel.
A 2014 poll by an Israel lobby group in the US reveals that 15% of Jewish Americans support a full boycott of against Israel.
Of course, support for Israel remains deeply entrenched, but the BDS movement is showing that it can become a hugely powerful tool in ending western support for Israeli apartheid and settler colonialism.
In Europe governments are taking steps compatible with the movement’s general approach, such as measures that enforce the EU’s non recognition of Israel’s claim of sovereignty in the occupied Palestinian and Syrian territories. These include warning businesses to stay away from illegal Israeli settlements, excluding Israeli entities operating in the OPT (including East Jerusalem) from funding and recognition, and considering cutting all financial transactions and ending business deals with Israeli banks that fund the occupation.