19 june 2015
The controversial leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu Party submitted a draft bill on Thursday calling for any political party represented in the Knesset to have state funding withdrawn if it supports boycott campaigns. Avigdor Lieberman included opposition to the misleading labelling of products from illegal West Bank settlements in the draft legislation.
According to Yedioth Ahranoth newspaper, far-right extremist Lieberman said that he has no doubt that the calls for a boycott, "which hurts Israel and its citizens", are much more damaging and severe when coming from within Israel's own legislature. "It is not logical that Israeli taxpayers fund those who call for acts hurting their income and the state's economy," he insisted.
The former foreign minister described the boycott (BDS) movement as "a new form of anti-Semitism" and said that it has no place in Israel's parliament. "This legislation seeks to give the Speaker of the Knesset the power to form guidelines for defunding Knesset parties who call for a boycott of Israel," he explained.
Lieberman said that the draft was submitted as a reaction to statements from Joint Arab List MKs, and after the left-wing Meretz Party tried to promote legislation that would label settlement products accurately as such, and not as originating "in Israel".
In response to the proposed law, Basil Ghattas MK of the Joint Arab List said, "It is our right to call for a boycott of Israel as long as the occupation continues and the siege remains in place against Gaza."
Israel fears an escalating wave of boycott calls, especially amongst European student unions. President Reuven Rivlin described them as "very serious."
Haaretz has noted that the Israeli right-wing is seeking to encircle media and human rights organisations critical of Israel's actions.
According to Yedioth Ahranoth newspaper, far-right extremist Lieberman said that he has no doubt that the calls for a boycott, "which hurts Israel and its citizens", are much more damaging and severe when coming from within Israel's own legislature. "It is not logical that Israeli taxpayers fund those who call for acts hurting their income and the state's economy," he insisted.
The former foreign minister described the boycott (BDS) movement as "a new form of anti-Semitism" and said that it has no place in Israel's parliament. "This legislation seeks to give the Speaker of the Knesset the power to form guidelines for defunding Knesset parties who call for a boycott of Israel," he explained.
Lieberman said that the draft was submitted as a reaction to statements from Joint Arab List MKs, and after the left-wing Meretz Party tried to promote legislation that would label settlement products accurately as such, and not as originating "in Israel".
In response to the proposed law, Basil Ghattas MK of the Joint Arab List said, "It is our right to call for a boycott of Israel as long as the occupation continues and the siege remains in place against Gaza."
Israel fears an escalating wave of boycott calls, especially amongst European student unions. President Reuven Rivlin described them as "very serious."
Haaretz has noted that the Israeli right-wing is seeking to encircle media and human rights organisations critical of Israel's actions.
18 june 2015
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Does Israel operate an apartheid system? The question is highly fraught and provokes strong emotions on both sides. Pro-Palestinian activists argue that it does; defenders of the Israeli state argue that this is a fallacy. Most neutral arbiters agree that there are certainly elements of apartheid, particularly in the separation of roads and transport systems in the Occupied West Bank, even if the entirety of the state cannot accurately be described as such.
The comparison to South Africa under apartheid is one that is being made more and more frequently, though, as the separation between Palestinians and Jewish settlers in the West Bank becomes more entrenched. It is cited frequently by proponents of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, who advocate isolating Israel as a way to |
apply pressure to end the occupation and seek a two-state solution, in the same way that pressure was applied to apartheid South Africa in the 1980s.
This week, the Israeli parliamentarian Tzipi Livni visited Britain to attend a Fortune summit for powerful women. Livni, who was foreign minister during the 2008-9 Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip, has in the past had to use diplomatic immunity to travel to the UK, after activists had a warrant for her arrest issued over alleged war crimes. Now, she is a member of parliament for the left-leaning Zionist Union, opposing the right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu. She argues in favour of the two-state solution and a renewed peace process with the Palestinians. It is believed that the staunchly pro-Israel British government applied special status to her again to allow her visit to go ahead without fear of arrest.
Part of her visit was spent debating with supporters of the BDS movement. In early June, the National Union of Students voted in favour of a boycott of Israel. This week, Livni appeared at a student event. In response to questions about Israel's hard line right-wing government, she responded that there is a difference between the state of Israel and a specific administration. She argued that supporting the boycott is a "collective punishment" that will not change the government's policies.
Livni repeated the description of the BDS movement as "collective punishment" when she appeared on the BBC's Newsnight programme. She told presenter Evan Davis that, "BDS is not about two states, two people; they are against the state of Israel", although she also said that the movement was not big enough to be a major worry. Davis asked Livni if she had supported the equivalent movement in apartheid South Africa. "We are not in the same situation," she responded. The presenter said that he was not asking whether it was the same, merely whether it was the right approach.
Livni evaded the question, saying that she agreed with sanctions on Iran. "What about South Africa?" Davis asked for a third time. Finally Livni responded: "Yes, I did [agree]. But those were different, because there is no apartheid in Israel." Later in the conversation, Davis asked whether she found it depressing that the comparison to South Africa keeps being made. "Yes, it is frustrating as an Israeli," she said. "While I can criticise the Israeli government's policy, I cannot accept the idea that Israel is becoming an apartheid state."
Yet, for all Livni's denials, the comparison to South Africa is not going anywhere, and it is not just made by proponents of the BDS movement in the west, but by the same South Africans who fought against apartheid in their country. The Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu is one of the most prominent people to make the case that the Israeli occupation of the West Bank is comparable to South Africa. He first made the case in a series of newspaper articles in 2002. Since then, he has maintained that the international community should divest support from Israel until the territories are no longer occupied.
"I have been to the Occupied Palestinian Territory and I have witnessed the racially segregated roads and housing that reminded me so much of the conditions we experienced in South Africa under the racist system of apartheid," he wrote in an open letter in 2010. "I have witnessed the humiliation of Palestinian men, women, and children made to wait hours at Israeli military checkpoints routinely when trying to make the most basic of trips to visit relatives or attend school and college, and this humiliation is familiar to me and the many black South Africans who were corralled and regularly insulted by the security forces of the apartheid government."
Other prominent South African anti-apartheid activists have also spoken out in recent years against Israel's policies in the West Bank, including Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Arun Gandhi, Ahmed Kathrada, and Ronnie Kasrils (who is Jewish). In 2012, Baleka Mbete, the chairman of the ANC, went so far as to say that the situation is "far worse than apartheid South Africa."
Clearly, the apartheid comparison is sticking to Israel, and as systems of segregation in the Occupied West Bank become more entrenched the description is becoming increasingly accurate. One recent government pilot project that was pulled after an international outcry involved segregated buses for Palestinians and Jewish settlers; it is difficult to argue that this is not reminiscent of apartheid. Tzipi Livni's evasiveness, and that of other apologists, can't disguise the obvious apartheid facts on the ground.
This week, the Israeli parliamentarian Tzipi Livni visited Britain to attend a Fortune summit for powerful women. Livni, who was foreign minister during the 2008-9 Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip, has in the past had to use diplomatic immunity to travel to the UK, after activists had a warrant for her arrest issued over alleged war crimes. Now, she is a member of parliament for the left-leaning Zionist Union, opposing the right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu. She argues in favour of the two-state solution and a renewed peace process with the Palestinians. It is believed that the staunchly pro-Israel British government applied special status to her again to allow her visit to go ahead without fear of arrest.
Part of her visit was spent debating with supporters of the BDS movement. In early June, the National Union of Students voted in favour of a boycott of Israel. This week, Livni appeared at a student event. In response to questions about Israel's hard line right-wing government, she responded that there is a difference between the state of Israel and a specific administration. She argued that supporting the boycott is a "collective punishment" that will not change the government's policies.
Livni repeated the description of the BDS movement as "collective punishment" when she appeared on the BBC's Newsnight programme. She told presenter Evan Davis that, "BDS is not about two states, two people; they are against the state of Israel", although she also said that the movement was not big enough to be a major worry. Davis asked Livni if she had supported the equivalent movement in apartheid South Africa. "We are not in the same situation," she responded. The presenter said that he was not asking whether it was the same, merely whether it was the right approach.
Livni evaded the question, saying that she agreed with sanctions on Iran. "What about South Africa?" Davis asked for a third time. Finally Livni responded: "Yes, I did [agree]. But those were different, because there is no apartheid in Israel." Later in the conversation, Davis asked whether she found it depressing that the comparison to South Africa keeps being made. "Yes, it is frustrating as an Israeli," she said. "While I can criticise the Israeli government's policy, I cannot accept the idea that Israel is becoming an apartheid state."
Yet, for all Livni's denials, the comparison to South Africa is not going anywhere, and it is not just made by proponents of the BDS movement in the west, but by the same South Africans who fought against apartheid in their country. The Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu is one of the most prominent people to make the case that the Israeli occupation of the West Bank is comparable to South Africa. He first made the case in a series of newspaper articles in 2002. Since then, he has maintained that the international community should divest support from Israel until the territories are no longer occupied.
"I have been to the Occupied Palestinian Territory and I have witnessed the racially segregated roads and housing that reminded me so much of the conditions we experienced in South Africa under the racist system of apartheid," he wrote in an open letter in 2010. "I have witnessed the humiliation of Palestinian men, women, and children made to wait hours at Israeli military checkpoints routinely when trying to make the most basic of trips to visit relatives or attend school and college, and this humiliation is familiar to me and the many black South Africans who were corralled and regularly insulted by the security forces of the apartheid government."
Other prominent South African anti-apartheid activists have also spoken out in recent years against Israel's policies in the West Bank, including Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Arun Gandhi, Ahmed Kathrada, and Ronnie Kasrils (who is Jewish). In 2012, Baleka Mbete, the chairman of the ANC, went so far as to say that the situation is "far worse than apartheid South Africa."
Clearly, the apartheid comparison is sticking to Israel, and as systems of segregation in the Occupied West Bank become more entrenched the description is becoming increasingly accurate. One recent government pilot project that was pulled after an international outcry involved segregated buses for Palestinians and Jewish settlers; it is difficult to argue that this is not reminiscent of apartheid. Tzipi Livni's evasiveness, and that of other apologists, can't disguise the obvious apartheid facts on the ground.
Yisrael Beytenu leader submits legislation proposal calling on the Knesset to pull funding from any party supporting the labelling of settlement products.
Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman proposed on Thursday his first legislation as a member of the opposition places the crosshairs directly on opposition parties who support the boycott and/or labeling of settlement products.
According to the proposal, state funding will be withdrawn for any Knesset party that actively promotes the boycott against or product labeling of either Israel at large or the settlements specifically.
According to Lieberman, the draft was submitted as a reaction to statements from Joint Arab List MKs, and after Meretz tried to promote legislation that would label settlement products. The explanatory portion of the legislation states: "In conjuncture with Israel's current battle against boycotts, sanctions and financial damages caused by states and anti-Israel organizations seeking to hurt Israel, including Israeli owned corporations and businesses, it is only appropriate that the state itself doesn't fund Knesset parties and factions which call for such a boycott or support it."
"I have no doubt that the calls for a boycott, which hurts Israel and its citizens, are much more damaging and severe when coming from within Israel's own legislature," he said. "It is not logical that Israeli taxpayers fund those who call for acts hurting their income and the state's economy."
"This new methodology of boycotting Israeli goods is simply a new form of anti-Semitism which has no place in the Knesset," he said. "This legislation seeks to give the Speaker of the Knesset the power to form guidelines for defunding Knesset parties who call for a boycott of Israel."
Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman proposed on Thursday his first legislation as a member of the opposition places the crosshairs directly on opposition parties who support the boycott and/or labeling of settlement products.
According to the proposal, state funding will be withdrawn for any Knesset party that actively promotes the boycott against or product labeling of either Israel at large or the settlements specifically.
According to Lieberman, the draft was submitted as a reaction to statements from Joint Arab List MKs, and after Meretz tried to promote legislation that would label settlement products. The explanatory portion of the legislation states: "In conjuncture with Israel's current battle against boycotts, sanctions and financial damages caused by states and anti-Israel organizations seeking to hurt Israel, including Israeli owned corporations and businesses, it is only appropriate that the state itself doesn't fund Knesset parties and factions which call for such a boycott or support it."
"I have no doubt that the calls for a boycott, which hurts Israel and its citizens, are much more damaging and severe when coming from within Israel's own legislature," he said. "It is not logical that Israeli taxpayers fund those who call for acts hurting their income and the state's economy."
"This new methodology of boycotting Israeli goods is simply a new form of anti-Semitism which has no place in the Knesset," he said. "This legislation seeks to give the Speaker of the Knesset the power to form guidelines for defunding Knesset parties who call for a boycott of Israel."
Consumer's assembly at northern Sweden city adopts pro-Palestinian proposal to take Israeli products off the shelves; campaign led by Israeli embassy focusing on fair trade forced boycotting stores to fold.
Israel has won an important victory over the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS) when a boycott on the sale of Israeli products in a supermarket chain in Sweden has been cancelled.
The national supermarket chain COOP has 655 branches across Sweden. Israel, that was worried the boycott would spread from three local stores in the city of Varberg to all branches nationwide, launched an impressive media campaign to combat it.
Two and a half months ago, pro-Palestinian organizations submitted a proposal calling to take off the shelves any products manufactured in Israel, including those produced inside the Green Line. This was a mostly symbolic proposal, as the chain only sells avocado and persimmon from Israel.
After the proposal was adopted with a great majority at a local consumer's assembly, Israeli Ambassador to Sweden Isaac Bachman decided, with the help of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, to fight the boycott not with arguments about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - but with arguments against the concept of a commercial boycott.
"We didn't talk about the righteousness of Israel, rather we spoke in the name of fair trade and avoiding discrimination of any state," Bachman explained. Bachman turned to the company's management, while at the same time pro-Israel activists in Sweden started posting against the supermarket chain's decision on social media.
A Swedish businessman opened a Facebook page titled "Opposing the Boycott against Israel," which received 2,500 likes. The Israeli embassy, meanwhile, posted phone numbers and e-mail addresses of the COOP chain's management and encouraged pro-Israel activists to flood them with messages against the boycott. Thousands of people heeded the call and threatened to boycott the supermarket chain if it continues its boycott against Israel.
"There was a great protest. A lot of people here are against boycotts," Bachman said. "We talked about fair trade. We explained that anyone who supports a boycott hurts the customers and the quality of the products. It resonated with people." Several days ago, Bachman met with the CEO of the supermarkets chain and asked him to intervene.
"They were shocked by the volume of messages they received." This led the chain's national management to reject the boycott and threaten that if the Varberg stores do not stop the boycott, they will no longer be a part of the chain, effectively putting an end to the boycott.
"The lesson I learned is that we must not, under absolutely no circumstances, give up, and we must launch a counter-campaign," Bachman said. "If you go for the consumer side, without getting into the issue of the conflict, your story would be better and stronger."
Israel has won an important victory over the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS) when a boycott on the sale of Israeli products in a supermarket chain in Sweden has been cancelled.
The national supermarket chain COOP has 655 branches across Sweden. Israel, that was worried the boycott would spread from three local stores in the city of Varberg to all branches nationwide, launched an impressive media campaign to combat it.
Two and a half months ago, pro-Palestinian organizations submitted a proposal calling to take off the shelves any products manufactured in Israel, including those produced inside the Green Line. This was a mostly symbolic proposal, as the chain only sells avocado and persimmon from Israel.
After the proposal was adopted with a great majority at a local consumer's assembly, Israeli Ambassador to Sweden Isaac Bachman decided, with the help of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, to fight the boycott not with arguments about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - but with arguments against the concept of a commercial boycott.
"We didn't talk about the righteousness of Israel, rather we spoke in the name of fair trade and avoiding discrimination of any state," Bachman explained. Bachman turned to the company's management, while at the same time pro-Israel activists in Sweden started posting against the supermarket chain's decision on social media.
A Swedish businessman opened a Facebook page titled "Opposing the Boycott against Israel," which received 2,500 likes. The Israeli embassy, meanwhile, posted phone numbers and e-mail addresses of the COOP chain's management and encouraged pro-Israel activists to flood them with messages against the boycott. Thousands of people heeded the call and threatened to boycott the supermarket chain if it continues its boycott against Israel.
"There was a great protest. A lot of people here are against boycotts," Bachman said. "We talked about fair trade. We explained that anyone who supports a boycott hurts the customers and the quality of the products. It resonated with people." Several days ago, Bachman met with the CEO of the supermarkets chain and asked him to intervene.
"They were shocked by the volume of messages they received." This led the chain's national management to reject the boycott and threaten that if the Varberg stores do not stop the boycott, they will no longer be a part of the chain, effectively putting an end to the boycott.
"The lesson I learned is that we must not, under absolutely no circumstances, give up, and we must launch a counter-campaign," Bachman said. "If you go for the consumer side, without getting into the issue of the conflict, your story would be better and stronger."
The newly assigned Israeli Justice Minister, Ayelet Shaked is reportedly preparing to file lawsuits against the international BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanction) movement which caused economic, academic and worldwide damage to Israel.According to the Times of Israel website, Ministry officials believe that legal circumstances present the option of suing activists with civil and criminal law suits for damaging Israeli trade, calling them “discriminatory and racist.”
The website added that Shaked was said to be putting together a plan of action and has already instructed that the number of positions in the international department be doubled so that it can push ahead with the program as soon as possible.
Shaked’s recent initiative is in keeping with statements made earlier this month by Education Minister Naftali Bennett, the leader of her Jewish Home party, who said, “Let it be clear to any company or organization that’s considering boycotting us: We will hit back. We will attack our attackers. We will boycott our boycotters.
Shaked last year called on Israel killing Gaza’s children and mothers, saying that “They have to die and their houses should be demolished so that they cannot bear any more terrorists.”
Last week, The seventh Israeli channel reported fears of PA stepping up BDS activities against Israel, before filing lawsuits in the international criminal court on 25 June to hold it accountable for crimes in Gaza and the West Bank.
Walid Assaf, the chairman of the Commission Against the Wall and Settlements, said through international media that the PA will have no choice but intensify BDS against Israel on an international level, to stop settlement expansion.
During the past weeks, Israeli officials launched a war against the (BDS) movement, especially after the French telecommunications giant, Orange, announced intentions to pull out from Israel, before rescinding from its statements.
Channel Ten at the same time explained that Israel has already begun to feel the effects of the potential damage to the Israeli economy, and an Israeli official warned that the government had run out of ways to combat the BDS threat.
Israeli president, Reuven Rivlin at the end of May warned that the Palestinian push towards Boycott, Divestment and sanctions against Israel in international universities and Footbal Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was a strategic threat to Israel.
BDS calls for an international boycott of Israel based on its policies in the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem.
The campaign thrived after last summer’s Israeli offensive on Gaza, which killed over 2,200 Palestinians, most of them children and civilians, and injured at least 11,000 people. The aggression turned tables against Israel and exposed war crimes that were strongly condemned by international bodies, strengthening BDS.
The website added that Shaked was said to be putting together a plan of action and has already instructed that the number of positions in the international department be doubled so that it can push ahead with the program as soon as possible.
Shaked’s recent initiative is in keeping with statements made earlier this month by Education Minister Naftali Bennett, the leader of her Jewish Home party, who said, “Let it be clear to any company or organization that’s considering boycotting us: We will hit back. We will attack our attackers. We will boycott our boycotters.
Shaked last year called on Israel killing Gaza’s children and mothers, saying that “They have to die and their houses should be demolished so that they cannot bear any more terrorists.”
Last week, The seventh Israeli channel reported fears of PA stepping up BDS activities against Israel, before filing lawsuits in the international criminal court on 25 June to hold it accountable for crimes in Gaza and the West Bank.
Walid Assaf, the chairman of the Commission Against the Wall and Settlements, said through international media that the PA will have no choice but intensify BDS against Israel on an international level, to stop settlement expansion.
During the past weeks, Israeli officials launched a war against the (BDS) movement, especially after the French telecommunications giant, Orange, announced intentions to pull out from Israel, before rescinding from its statements.
Channel Ten at the same time explained that Israel has already begun to feel the effects of the potential damage to the Israeli economy, and an Israeli official warned that the government had run out of ways to combat the BDS threat.
Israeli president, Reuven Rivlin at the end of May warned that the Palestinian push towards Boycott, Divestment and sanctions against Israel in international universities and Footbal Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was a strategic threat to Israel.
BDS calls for an international boycott of Israel based on its policies in the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem.
The campaign thrived after last summer’s Israeli offensive on Gaza, which killed over 2,200 Palestinians, most of them children and civilians, and injured at least 11,000 people. The aggression turned tables against Israel and exposed war crimes that were strongly condemned by international bodies, strengthening BDS.
17 june 2015
Yisrael Beitenu chairman Avigdor Lieberman stated on Wednesday that he would reconsider joining Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's new government, if settlement construction resumed in occupied Jerusalem.
Lieberman stated that he was reconsidering joining the government if Netanyahu agreed to build one thousand new housing units in Ma'ale Adumim settlement to the east of occupied Jerusalem.
Lieberman had earlier decided to remain outside Netanyahu's 4th government due to "his inability to destroy Hamas in Gaza and to expand settlement construction in occupied Jerusalem."
The United States and the European Union have warned Netanyahu more than once of any attempt to expand Ma'ale Adumim settlement.
Lieberman stated that he was reconsidering joining the government if Netanyahu agreed to build one thousand new housing units in Ma'ale Adumim settlement to the east of occupied Jerusalem.
Lieberman had earlier decided to remain outside Netanyahu's 4th government due to "his inability to destroy Hamas in Gaza and to expand settlement construction in occupied Jerusalem."
The United States and the European Union have warned Netanyahu more than once of any attempt to expand Ma'ale Adumim settlement.
16 june 2015
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Stephane Richard and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Stephane RIchard, who angered many with his remark on withdrawing from Israel, files complaint after personal details leaked online.
Orange boss Stephane Richard has taken legal action after receiving death threats against himself and family members amid a row over withdrawing his brand from Israel, legal sources said Tuesday.
Richard filed a complaint at a Paris court last week before heading to Israel in a bid to calm the controversy, a source close to the affair disclosed.
"Stephane Richard received death threats on his telephone and his personal data were published on an Internet site in the context of the controversy over Orange's presence in Israel," the source said.
Once these personal details were published, Richard received hundreds of calls, including death threats, added the source, who did not wish to be named.
The French telecoms giant declined to comment on the issue.
The row erupted after remarks by Richard during a news conference in Cairo on June 3 in which he said the firm was planning to withdraw its brand from Israel at the earliest possible opportunity.
Orange licenses its name and logo for use by Israeli firm Partner Communications under an agreement due to run until 2025.
Israel reacted furiously to Richard's comments, accusing him of bowing to a Palestinian-led boycott campaign.
His comments were interpreted in Israel as a response to a report by a group of NGOs which accused Orange of indirectly supporting settlement activity through its agreement with Partner.
Even Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu became involved, calling on Paris to renounce "the miserable action of a company that is under its partial ownership".
Richard flew to Israel last week in a bid to smooth ruffled feathers and told Netanyahu he "deeply" regretted the controversy and would never support any boycott of Israel.
Stephane RIchard, who angered many with his remark on withdrawing from Israel, files complaint after personal details leaked online.
Orange boss Stephane Richard has taken legal action after receiving death threats against himself and family members amid a row over withdrawing his brand from Israel, legal sources said Tuesday.
Richard filed a complaint at a Paris court last week before heading to Israel in a bid to calm the controversy, a source close to the affair disclosed.
"Stephane Richard received death threats on his telephone and his personal data were published on an Internet site in the context of the controversy over Orange's presence in Israel," the source said.
Once these personal details were published, Richard received hundreds of calls, including death threats, added the source, who did not wish to be named.
The French telecoms giant declined to comment on the issue.
The row erupted after remarks by Richard during a news conference in Cairo on June 3 in which he said the firm was planning to withdraw its brand from Israel at the earliest possible opportunity.
Orange licenses its name and logo for use by Israeli firm Partner Communications under an agreement due to run until 2025.
Israel reacted furiously to Richard's comments, accusing him of bowing to a Palestinian-led boycott campaign.
His comments were interpreted in Israel as a response to a report by a group of NGOs which accused Orange of indirectly supporting settlement activity through its agreement with Partner.
Even Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu became involved, calling on Paris to renounce "the miserable action of a company that is under its partial ownership".
Richard flew to Israel last week in a bid to smooth ruffled feathers and told Netanyahu he "deeply" regretted the controversy and would never support any boycott of Israel.
15 june 2015
The European boycott campaign against the Israeli settlements' agricultural products caused Israel's economy a loss $6 billion in the years 2013 and 2014.
According to the data of the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, obtained by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the losses resulting from the boycott will rise to $9.5 billion by the end of this year.
The paper said that Israel is trying to compensate for these losses through increasing Israeli exports to the United States, as well as increasing US investments in Tel Aviv.
According to the data of the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, obtained by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the losses resulting from the boycott will rise to $9.5 billion by the end of this year.
The paper said that Israel is trying to compensate for these losses through increasing Israeli exports to the United States, as well as increasing US investments in Tel Aviv.
During his visit to South Africa, PA President Mahmoud Abbas Sunday urged African countries to boycott goods produced by Israeli-owned companies in the occupied West Bank, The Times of Israel reported on Monday.
Speaking at the 25th African Union assembly in Johannesburg, Abbas called on state leaders to require the labeling of settlement products as a means of informing consumers that such items are produced in occupied land.
The Palestinian leader added that the sale of Israeli goods produced beyond the Green Line violated international legal standards.
“We must boycott the settlements which were established on Palestinian land, contrary to international law and resolutions,” Abbas said, according to the WAFA news agency.
The call on African leaders follows after the European Union is expected to soon begin rolling out rules that require the labeling of goods from the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, diplomats said recently.
During a previous visit to South Africa in 2013, Abbas stated that Palestine does not support a general boycott of Israel, but a boycott of the products made in occupied lands.
“We ask everyone to boycott the products of the settlements. Because the settlements are in our territories. It is illegal,” he said.
The PA president’s comments at the time conflicted “with the Palestinian national consensus that has strongly supported BDS against Israel since 2005,” one of the founders of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, Omar Barghouti, told Electronic Intifada at the time.
The BDS movement calls for boycotts of Israel, not just Israeli settlements, with the stated goal of ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and granting a right of return to all Palestinian refugees.
Speaking at the 25th African Union assembly in Johannesburg, Abbas called on state leaders to require the labeling of settlement products as a means of informing consumers that such items are produced in occupied land.
The Palestinian leader added that the sale of Israeli goods produced beyond the Green Line violated international legal standards.
“We must boycott the settlements which were established on Palestinian land, contrary to international law and resolutions,” Abbas said, according to the WAFA news agency.
The call on African leaders follows after the European Union is expected to soon begin rolling out rules that require the labeling of goods from the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, diplomats said recently.
During a previous visit to South Africa in 2013, Abbas stated that Palestine does not support a general boycott of Israel, but a boycott of the products made in occupied lands.
“We ask everyone to boycott the products of the settlements. Because the settlements are in our territories. It is illegal,” he said.
The PA president’s comments at the time conflicted “with the Palestinian national consensus that has strongly supported BDS against Israel since 2005,” one of the founders of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, Omar Barghouti, told Electronic Intifada at the time.
The BDS movement calls for boycotts of Israel, not just Israeli settlements, with the stated goal of ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and granting a right of return to all Palestinian refugees.
Netanyahu and Schetyna meeting in Jerusalem on Monday
In apparent reference to Nazi persecution of the Jews, prime minister tells Polish FM that Israel will not tolerate efforts to isolate it internationally.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted Monday at a parallel between calls for a boycott of Israel and the actions of the Nazis against the Jews during the Holocaust.
During a meeting with Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Grzegorz Schetyna, Netanyahu alluded to the Nazi persecution of the Jews of Poland, saying: "Attacks against Jews have always been preceded by the slander of Jews."
He said that Israel would not tolerate attempts to subject it to a widespread boycott.
"What was done to the Jewish people at the time, is now done to the Jewish state. We will not accept it," Netanyahu vowed.
The prime minister has taken a fierce stance against international efforts to isolate the country economically and socially, and recently launched a drive to counter the work of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Earlier this year, Netanyahu told a group of visiting Jewish American leaders that it was time for Israel to "fight back" and "delegitimize the delegitimizers."
"In the past anti-Semites boycotted Jewish businesses and today they call for the boycott of the Jewish state, and by the way, only the Jewish state," Netanyahu said at the time.
There are increasing concerns in Israel over the Palestinian-led BDS movement. Israel has allocated some NIS 100 million to the office of Strategic Affairs and Information Minister Gilad Erdan, most of which will go to fighting BDS.
Boycotts of Israel have been growing recently, primarily in Europe, where some businesses and pension funds have cut investments or trade with Israeli firms they say are connected to West Bank settlements.
Recent comments by Stephane Richard, the head of global telecommunications giant Orange, that he would end the company's ties to Israel if he could were met with a furious response by Israeli leaders.
"The absurd play in which Israeli democracy defends itself against rocket attacks and terror tunnels and takes automatic condemnation and boycott attempts will not be forgiven," said Netanyahu at the time.
Richard soon backtracked on his remarks, made during a visit to Cairo, and even travelled to Israel to meet with Netanyahu.
In apparent reference to Nazi persecution of the Jews, prime minister tells Polish FM that Israel will not tolerate efforts to isolate it internationally.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted Monday at a parallel between calls for a boycott of Israel and the actions of the Nazis against the Jews during the Holocaust.
During a meeting with Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Grzegorz Schetyna, Netanyahu alluded to the Nazi persecution of the Jews of Poland, saying: "Attacks against Jews have always been preceded by the slander of Jews."
He said that Israel would not tolerate attempts to subject it to a widespread boycott.
"What was done to the Jewish people at the time, is now done to the Jewish state. We will not accept it," Netanyahu vowed.
The prime minister has taken a fierce stance against international efforts to isolate the country economically and socially, and recently launched a drive to counter the work of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
Earlier this year, Netanyahu told a group of visiting Jewish American leaders that it was time for Israel to "fight back" and "delegitimize the delegitimizers."
"In the past anti-Semites boycotted Jewish businesses and today they call for the boycott of the Jewish state, and by the way, only the Jewish state," Netanyahu said at the time.
There are increasing concerns in Israel over the Palestinian-led BDS movement. Israel has allocated some NIS 100 million to the office of Strategic Affairs and Information Minister Gilad Erdan, most of which will go to fighting BDS.
Boycotts of Israel have been growing recently, primarily in Europe, where some businesses and pension funds have cut investments or trade with Israeli firms they say are connected to West Bank settlements.
Recent comments by Stephane Richard, the head of global telecommunications giant Orange, that he would end the company's ties to Israel if he could were met with a furious response by Israeli leaders.
"The absurd play in which Israeli democracy defends itself against rocket attacks and terror tunnels and takes automatic condemnation and boycott attempts will not be forgiven," said Netanyahu at the time.
Richard soon backtracked on his remarks, made during a visit to Cairo, and even travelled to Israel to meet with Netanyahu.
