Israel is becoming increasingly isolated on the world scene as war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza continue, with reactions to reverberate in the economic, cultural and sports spheres.
The international conviction has shot since Israel announced an earthly forest to the city of Gaza and led an unprecedented attack on Hamas’s leadership in Qatar.
Last week, the European Union – Israel’s largest commercial partner – proposed sanctions that would partially suspend its free trade agreement, if approved by the EU Member States. Several western nations have already applied specific sanctions against certain Israelite individuals, advanced settlers of settlers and organizations that support violence in occupied Worm.
The global protest is reaching Israel’s economy in other ways.
In August, the Norway’s sovereign background, the largest in the world, announced that he was disintelling in Israel due to the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Israel also faces partial or total weapons embargoes by France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and other countries due to their conduct in Gaza.
The reaction has been so strong that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself recognized him earlier this month, warning that Israel faces a “kind of isolation” that could last years, adding that the country has no alternative but to stay alone. Netanyahu stated that Israel would have to develop its weaponry industry and adapt its economy to become less dependent on foreign trade. Subsequently, he devalued these comments, saying he was talking only about the defense industry.
With the escalation of war, Israel is also being hit in the sphere of entertainment and culture.
Broadcasters from various European countries, including Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain, said they will boycott the much appreciated eurovision of the song if Israel is allowed to participate in 2026. Irish national broadcaster said that “Ireland’s participation would be unacceptable, given the continuing and terrible loss of lives in Gaza.”
Israelite singer Yuval Raphael, who represents Israel with the song “New Day Will Rise”, performs during the general essay for the Euro Festival Euvióvision of the Song in May 2025. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images
Israeli television station Kan 11 has reacted, stating that it will continue to select Israel’s competitor to 2026 and arguing that the musical celebration “should not be politicized.” The European Broadcasting Union, an organizer of Eurovision, said that member countries will vote in November on who could participate next year. Israel participates in Eurovision since 1973.
In the field of the fine arts, a music festival in Ghent, Belgium, recently canceled a Munich Philharmonic concert, which would perform with Israelite conductor Lahav Shani. The festival stated in a statement that “Shani has commented several times in favor of peace and reconciliation, but … We can not sufficiently clarify his attitude towards the genocidal regime of Telavive.”
The Israeli government has claimed that it is leading the war in Gaza in self -defense and according to international law, firmly denying all accusations of genocide.
In Hollywood, thousands of filmmakers, actors and film industry workers have committed not to work with Israeli film institutions “that are implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people.” Signatories include Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Andrew Garfield and Hannah Einbinder, who recently made headlines by finishing her emmys acceptance speech with the words “Libertem to Palestine.”
Sport was not immune either. The final stage of a major cycling test, in this case Vuelta, was canceled earlier this month after several Pro-Palestinian demonstrations disturbed the event in protest against the participation of the Israel-Premier Tech team. Also in Spain, the organizers of a chess tournament told Israeli players that they could not compete with their national flag, which led them to give up the competition earlier this month, according to Reuters.
Protesters block the road in an attempt to disturb the 21st stage of Vuelta, Alalpardo Ae Madrid, Spain, on September 14, 2025. Manu Fernandez/AP
In addition, Israelites media have recently reported the fear that Israel may risk being suspended from European football competitions. In August, UEFA was criticized after a track was shown in the lawn before the final, where you read “stop killing children, stop killing civilians”, not specifically Israel or any other nation. Israel’s Minister of Culture and Sport, Miki Zohar, said he and other Israelites responsible have been “working intensely” behind the scenes “to block the initiative to expel Israel from UEFA.”
Several Premier League soccer players, including Mohamed Salah, Liverpool star, also spoke out against the war in Gaza and appealed to solidarity with the Palestinian people.
The inflection point of the “South Africa” of Israel?
The economic and cultural reaction to Israel raised comparisons with the pressure exerted on South Africa during the era of the racial oppression of apartheid.
Between the 1950s and 90s, South Africa faced a strong boycott movement that gradually turned it into an outcast. South African products were removed from western grocery stores, the activists appealed to divestment and departure from banks, and many musicians refused to play in the country of apartheid. A sports boycott led to the exclusion of South Africa from international sports competitions such as cricket and eventually Raguebi.
“The symbolic has more influence than the numbers,” said Ilan Baruch, former South African ambassador, who resigned from the Ministry of Israeli Foreign Affairs in 2011 to protest the fact that the government has “abandoned” its commitment to peace through a solution of two states.
“Eurovision is very popular and football tournaments are very, very popular. And if you even mention a connection between the pressure on Israel on political, cultural and sports issues, etc., that will have an impact,” as happened with South Africa, told CNN.
Baruch is currently president of the Policy Working Group, a group of Israelite academics, activists, and former diplomats who advocate recognition of the state of Palestine and a two -state solution.
The MEO argues that it is necessary to exert assertive pressure on Israel, arguing that it should not be possible for the country to maintain “such a privilege in its business relations with the EU” and, “at the same time, undermine human rights and the future of Palestinians.”
“It is not the mere business relations, but the privileged status of Israel that is now concerned,” he defended.
The Israeli government has also faced a lot of opposition within the country, with regular protests against war and widespread calls to a ceasefire to bring home the hostages captured by Hamas militants in their attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
However, in the last two decades, a Civil Society campaign led by Palestinians, called Boycott, Divestment, Sanctments (BDS), tried to reproduce the impact of the South African boycott against apartheid. After years of marginal success, the movement has gained more attention and traction since the beginning of the war in Gaza.
UN Developments
This week’s United Nations General Assembly (AGNU) brought even more isolation to Israel.
Several western countries formally recognized a Palestinian state before the AGNU, including heavy weights from diplomacy such as Canada, France and the United Kingdom.
And a new analysis of the AGNU major votes on Israelo-Palestinian resolutions between 2017 and 2025, conducted by Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, has concluded that some of Israel’s longtime defenders are “abandoning the herd.”
The number of states that formally abstained from the AGNU votes related to Israel – usually seen as a passive support to the country – is decreasing.
“There is no doubt that there is a performance vote here. Some of these countries who voted against Israel have very important and discreet relationships with Israel and are seen as strong partners,” Satloff told CNN. But from an Israelite point of view, “the tendency must be disconcerting when, over time, there is a clear pattern of once strong supporters who move in the opposite direction.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York on Friday. Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images
For Satloff, the big question is whether Israel’s diplomatic isolation is reparrable.
Some UN member countries were already showing a “deep animosity about Israel” before the current conflict, while other countries “are deeply moved by the specificities of what is happening in Gaza, and it is likely to soften their opinion on Israeli government behavior when the war is over or when a new government arises,” said Satloff.
However, the United Nations Committee on Genocide Commission in Gaza drew attention to the International Criminal Court’s investigation into the state of Palestine, with the inquiry to recommend that prosecutors examine genocide under this process.
The fact that the TPI issued a warrant of capture against Netanyahu last year has seriously limited the places to which he can travel outside Israel. Netanyahu’s flight to the UN meeting in New York this week followed a tortuous route – maneuvering around French and Spanish airspace – in an apparent effort to avoid countries that could enforce a pending capture warrant against him for alleged war crimes.
Despite the apparent decline in the support of other nations, the United States continues to vote firmly alongside Israel.
Speaking earlier this month about the Israeli attack on Qatar, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said: “I think the president’s comments speak for himself on this front. He did not like the way this was said … Our relationship with Israel will remain strong.”
*Such Shalev contributed to this article
