“There is a boycott fashion in Europe against Israel”

Ted Belman

The threat of sanctions looms large, not for the Palestinians who continue their incitement and intransigence, not for Assad’s Syria after 130,000 deaths, not for Iran who threatens our annihilation, not for Iran who continues to hang homosexuals etc, etc, not for anyone except Israel. Israel, who dares to exercise its legal rights to Judea and Samaria, whose Arab citizens have more rights than any Arabs in any Arab country, who keeps the PA in power and enables its autonomy, who pays Arab workers in Judea and Samaria more than they get from Arab employers, who doesn’t even have the death penalty for Arabs convicted of murdering Jews and who wishes to live in peace with their Arab neighbour, is the target of sanctions.

Even Iran who is violating international law and racing to build a nuclear bomb, is let off the sanctions hook and sees its sanctions crumbling. But not Israel.

YNET reports on a debate taking place with Israel in the shadow of this growing threat:

We cannot truly fight against the will to boycott us,” said the Foreign Ministry official. Following the announcement of Danish bank Danskebank in regards to pulling out its investments in several companies, including Israeli firms, an inquiry conducted by the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen revealed that the Danish bank has no investments with any body related to Africa-Israel Investments Limited (AFI).

“There is a boycott fashion in Europe against Israel, but we’re still not talking about a trend,” the Foreign Ministry official noted. “In any case, the boycott is a phenomenon that is derived from the real issue, which is the construction in the settlements. As long as Israel continues to build, this phenomenon will persist and it will be difficult to prevent it without handling this political issue. There is no way to explain to the Europeans why the settlements are good, and why they should buy products produced beyond the Green Line.”

Israeli companies on Danish bank Danskebank’s blacklist

The Foreign Ministry was supposed to present data regarding boycotts in a cabinet hearing that was canceled last week; the ministry was also set to demand from the cabinet to separate the boycotts initiated by government and countries to the battle against pro-Palestinian organizations and commercial entities. In a yet-scheduled ministerial meeting on the matter, Foreign Ministry officials are expected to stress that the two should not be confused.

“There is no way to explain the fundamental issue that troubles even our most prominent companies in the world. It is impossible to face the subject of boycotts while not facing the subject of settlements. That is the truth,” said the Foreign Ministry official.

However, not everyone in the Israeli diplomatic field agrees with this analysis, and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is certain that the issue of settlements is only an excuse for those who seek to boycott Israel. Lieberman believes that due to the process of “Islamization” in Europe, along with its severe economic crisis, European countries are working towards boycotting Israel in order to gain Arab funds.

Officials within the Foreign Ministry further warn, however, that as long as Israel ignores warnings made by both its allies and critics, the anti-Israel wave will increase.

Israeli diplomats in embassies in Europe have identified a negative trend that is on the rise, and a tendency to present a caring front towards Palestinians. “There are companies that decide to boycott Israeli companies because they want to be part of this wave,” a Foreign Ministry source said. “In fact, it is almost impossible to do anything against it.” 

Amid dealing with dangers of boycotts, the war between the Foreign Ministry and Yuval Steintz’s Ministry of Intelligence and Strategic Affairs is heating up. Steinitz demands that millions of shekels will be allocated to his office, so that he can deal with the boycott against Israel, but the Foreign Ministry rejected his plans. “This office only intensifies the problem. They already received many millions, and nothing happened. Those who think they can fight boycott are using the wrong terminology. We know how to operate in the political arena against governments and earn achievements. Regarding the boycott, this is not the way.”

And how are the economy-related ministries dealing with the boycotts? Finance Minister Yair Lapid warns against the escalation of the boycott, and in simulations that the ministry conducted in preparation for possibilities of intensification of economic bans, a dire picture for Israeli economy was painted. The Economy Ministry is also closely following the matter, but at this stage refuse to get anxious.

HAARETZ REPORTS:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the warnings by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry regarding the danger of the boycott movement gaining strength against Israel.

“The attempts to boycott Israel are unethical and unjustified,” Netanyahu said at the beginning of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday. “Moreover, they won’t achieve their goal.”

Netanyahu was responding to Kerry’s speeach on Saturday. “There are talk of boycotts and other kinds of things,” said Kerry at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. “Are we all going to be better with all of that?”

Kerry cautioned against allowing the peace talks to fail. “For Israel, the stakes are also enormously high,” he said. “Do they want a failure that then begs whatever may come in the form of a response from disappointed Palestinians and the Arab community?”

Netanyahu remarked that the threat of boycotts “cause the Palestinians to dig into their rejectionist stance and push peace away.” According to Netanyahu, “No pressure will make me yield on the vital interests of Israel, security being at the forefront.”

Yuval Steinitz, the Minister of Intelligence and Strategic Affairs, struck even harder at the American secretary of state. “Kerry’s speech about the boycott against Israel is harmful and insufferable … it’s impossible to force us to negotiate with a gun to the temple when we’re dealing with matter that are most critical to our interests,” he said at the meeting Sunday.