An Israeli maker of home carbonation systems said Thursday it would close a West Bank factory that prompted a call to boycott the company's products.
SodaStream International Ltd. announced the plant in the Mishor Adumin industrial zone will close in 2015. It said work at the plant, and at another in northern Israel, will be relocated, and stressed it was a "purely commercial" decision not tied to Palestinian steps to boycott Israeli businesses in West Bank or east Jerusalem. SodaStream has contended with supporters of Palestinian statehood and those in the "boycott, divert and sanctions" movement.
A spokesman for the movement, Rafeef Ziadah, said its actions are "increasingly capable of holding corporate criminals to account for their participation in Israeli apartheid and colonialism."
"Pressure has forced retailers across Europe and North America to drop SodaStream, and the company's share price has tumbled in recent months as our movement has caused increasing reputational damage to the SodaStream brand."
The revenue and price of stock in the company, whose products add carbonation and flavoring to tap water to produce soda, have been reduced since the controversy began in January.
