In the same week that actress Scarlett Johansson stood tall against the ill-targeted boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement by resigning her position as Oxfam International’s Global Ambassador  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry fanned the BDS flames by publicly warning that the risk of boycotts would intensify should the U.S. brokered Israeli-Palestinian peace talks fail. Though the State Department responded to Israeli criticism by stating that the United States, “always opposed calls for boycotts,” Nonetheless,  Kerry’s comments affectingly encouraged BDS supporters to increase pressure on Israel.

Historical, while threats and pressure on Israel create a less stable Middle East, the Jewish State has taken risks for peace when physically and emotionally secure. Thus, inadvertently fomenting pressure on Israel increases the peace-making gap.  President Obama, echoed by Secretary Kerry, should publicly assure the Israelis that the BDS movement is not only misguided,  but detrimental to the goal of a peaceful resolution of the conflict.