Scarlett Johansson Leaves Oxfam Over Deal with Israeli Firm

After eight years as an Oxfam global ambassador, actress Scarlett Johansson has split with the aid charity in a dispute over her endorsement deal with an Israeli company that runs a factory in the occupied West Bank, writes The New York Times.

Ms. Johansson has defended the deal she signed earlier this month with SodaStream, which makes home carbonation machines and has its largest plant in the Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim east of Jerusalem. The actress echoed the firm’s argument that it employs hundreds of Palestinians and serves as a bridge between Israel and Palestine.

In a statement Thursday, Oxfam said it had accepted Ms. Johansson’s resignation but reiterated its opposition to trade involving Israel’s West Bank settlements. Businesses that operate in the settlements “further the ongoing poverty and denial of rights of the Palestinian communities that we work to support,” the charity said.