Had I been an American citizen, even a strictly kosher Jew, I would not have been allowed into the State of Israel.

Under new legislation approved on March 6 by the Knesset, non-Israeli citizens and nonpermanent residents (foreign nationals) who have committed to take part in the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement will not be granted entry into the country. Based on a 2011 law outlining penalties for those who call for a boycott of Israel, “boycott against the State of Israel” applies to “areas under control of the State of Israel.” Five years ago, I published an article under a Hebrew headline translating to “Additional Reasons Not to Buy Settlement Products.” Not a single lettuce leaf grown in an Israeli settlement will enter my kitchen.

Few issues divide Israeli society and undermine political stability as does the occupation enterprise and the settlement machine. Just look at the verbal blows exchanged April 2 by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and HaBayit HaYehudi Chair Naftali Bennett over the Cabinet’s decision to rein in construction in the settlements under US pressure. No issue inflicts more damage to Israel’s international standing. Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Union tussled in January following the EU resolution clarifying that EU agreements with Israel pertain only to areas within the pre-1967 border, a restriction that "does not constitute a boycott of Israel."

Over time, the settlements have become a bone of contention between Israel and liberal Jewish groups around the world, especially in the United States. Despite these groups' earlier activities, it appears as though the trauma of Hillary Clinton’s defeat in the presidential election and the budding romance between her rival, President Donald Trump, and Netanyahu have left protests against settlement expansion to relatively small organizations such as J Street, Americans for Peace Now and the New Israel Fund. Israel’s political right and participants at the recent 2017 annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) convention in Washington could not conceal their glee at the broadside attack by the Trump administration’s UN Ambassador Nikki Haley against last December’s Security Council Resolution 2334 condemning the settlements. Despite Trump stating in a February interview with the pro-Netanyahu daily Israel Hayom, that settlement construction is not useful to the peace process and calling on Israel to “act reasonably,” the envoy promised to oppose any UN resolution against Israeli settlements.