After purchasing a $24.3 million stake in the Israeli company SodaStream International Ltd earlier this year, George Soros has sold his shares amidst mounting political pressure. As Yahoo reported, a Soros spokesperson declined to comment on when the shares were sold, but a Palestinian activist seemingly took credit for the decision.
“After pressure from Soros partners in the region and the world, they dropped SodaStream and promised, in private letters so far, to issue guidelines similar to those adopted by the EU to prevent any investment into companies that sustain the Israeli occupation and settlements in particular,” Omar Barghouti, a Palestinian activist and co-founder of the BDS movement told The National.
You may recall SodaStream was in the headlines earlier this year when actress Scarlett Johansson refused to terminate her relationship with the company that has a manufacturing plant in Maale Adumim – a settlement in Judea. SodaStream actually employs 900 Palestinians at the facility, and the company openly supports Arab-Jewish equality and coexistence.
On radio this morning, Glenn reacted to the Soros’ decision to take “a stand against the nation of Israel.”
As Glenn explained, the fact that Soros initially invested in SodaStream proves the value of the product.
“[SodaStream is] making a product that is really good. So good, in fact, that some of the biggest investors in the world have invested in Soda Stream,” Glenn said. “How big? The biggest of the big… a man who controls currencies can collapse entire currencies and countries just by a waive of his hand: George Soros. George Soros owned $25 million of stock in Soda Stream… He sold his 550,000 shares at $24.4 million after pressure from his partners in that region of the world.”
While Glenn recognized Soros’ right to invest his money as he sees fit, the politics of the deal left him wondering.
“I believe in a world that you're free to do what you believe is right. I believe in a world where we can all disagree… We're not shouted down. I believe in a world where somebody can go out and buy all the biggest rabbis in the world and mount a giant campaign and do whatever they want. You do that,” Glenn explained. “I believe in a world where that doesn't last. At some point, you're there alone – decrepit, aging, with nothing but your money to keep you warm at night. And you wonder, what the hell have I done?”
“I have sympathy for people like George Soros, who has gone through an awful lot in his life… He's gone through things I can’t even imagine,” he continued. “But I can't imagine how he found the path to his life and how he has found the answers that he has found through the extraordinary trials that he has been through. But I believe in a world where we all are different, and we all have different paths. He has chosen his. I have chosen mine.”