Israel ambassador to US sends anti-boycott message with gift

Jerusalem, Dec 23: Israel's ambassador to the United States has dispatched a politically charged holiday gift.

Ambassador Ron Dermer says that by sending American recipients a holiday basket that includes wine, olive oil and other goods produced in Israeli settlements, he is also delivering a message against those seeking to boycott the Jewish state.

Dermer said today the gift is meant to "combat the latest effort by Israel's enemies to destroy the one and only Jewish state." Israel has been jarred by efforts of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, or BDS, which Israel considers to be anti-Semitic.

It has also been outraged by last month's move by the European Union to label products made in Israeli settlements on lands it captured in the 1967 Mideast war. The US opposes the BDS movement.

AP