Johansson splits with Oxfam over SodaStream dispute

JERUSALEM – Scarlett Johansson has parted ways with the international charity Oxfam because of a dispute over her work for SodaStream, a company operating in a West Bank settlement that features the Hollywood star in an ad that will air during the Super Bowl.

Johansson became the latest casualty of a widening campaign to boycott the settlements, drawing attention to a larger debate about whether Israel will become an international pariah, at a steep economic price, if it fails to reach a peace deal with Palestinians.

Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid stoked such fears this week, warning that if negotiations break down "and we enter a reality of a European boycott, even a very partial one, Israel's economy will retreat backward and every Israeli citizen will feel it straight in the pocket."

His comments reflected a growing sense in Israel that the coming weeks will be decisive for the country's future.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is formulating ideas for an Israeli-Palestinian framework agreement and is expected to present them next month. Israeli and Palestinian leaders have balked at some of his proposals. If they stick to their positions, it could derail what is widely seen as a last chance for ending the conflict.

Meanwhile, European officials have warned that Israel could face deepening economic isolation if it presses forward with the construction of settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, war-won lands the Palestinians want for their state. The fate of dozens of settlements, home to 550,000 Israelis, is a key sticking point.

Johansson stepped into that controversy this month when she agreed to become a global brand ambassador for Soda­Stream, a Tel Aviv-based company that makes home soda machines and has its main plant in an Israeli industrial park next to the West Bank settlement of Maaleh Adumim.

Her decision riled Oxfam International, a humanitarian aid organization for which she had served as global ambassador for eight years, helping raise donations for victims of natural disasters in Indonesia and the Philippines, among other causes.

Johansson said in a statement that she was stepping down and cited a "fundamental difference of opinion" with Oxfam. The actress said she supports economic cooperation between "a democratic Israel and Palestine."

Oxfam accepted her resignation Thursday and said it believes SodaStream and other businesses operating in West Bank settlements contribute to the "denial of rights of the Palestinian communities that we work to support."

The charity said it opposes trade with Israeli settlements, deemed illegal by most of the international community.

Johansson was one of 17 celebrity ambassadors for Oxfam. Others who are continuing in that role include the band Coldplay, pop singer Annie Lennox and actress Kristin Davis of "Sex and the City" fame, the organization said.

The Palestinian-led movement of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) on Thursday welcomed the controversy, even though Johansson is staying with SodaStream.

"Without doubt, the biggest loser in this well-publicized BDS campaign was Soda­Stream, which was exposed to the whole world as an occupation profiteer," said Omar Barghouti, a leader of the movement, founded in 2005 by Palestinian grass roots activists.