p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 15.0px 'Times New Roman'; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000} span.s1 {font-kerning: none} span.s2 {text-decoration: underline ; font-kerning: none; color: #0463c1; -webkit-text-stroke: 0px #0463c1} Pro-boycott groups landed a significant win last week when two police departments announced they were pulling out of a program that sends US police officers to receive training in Israel.

The Vermont state police and a local police department in Massachusetts have decided to end their participation in a program that sends US police officers to Israel for counterterrorism training following pressure by groups supportive of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. Pro-Israel activists in turn have filed a lawsuit against the city of Durham, North Carolina, over a city council statement that decries militarized policing and mentions Israel.

The withdrawals mark a setback for a wide array of programs, sponsored by numerous pro-Israel groups, meant to foster closer ties between US and Israeli law enforcement.

Both the Vermont and Northampton police exchanges were part of a program organized by the US-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The ADL says it has sent more than 400 “high-ranking American officials” on these trips since 2004.