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Israel demands France to renounce Orange's boycott comment

Xinhua, June 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

Israel called on the French government to renounce a remark by the CEO of the French telecom giant Orange, expressing his intention to sever ties with Israel over its control of the occupied Palestinian territories, Israeli Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

Jerusalem instructed the Israeli Ambassador to France Yossi Gal to send a letter of protest to the Elysee Palace and the ministries of finance and foreign affairs, demanding France to distance itself from the comment by Orange's Stephane Richard.

"The Israeli Embassy in Paris is acting intensely to express the graveness with which Israel sees the comments made by the Orange CEO and our expectation is that there be immediate clarification," Gal said in a statement sent to Xinhua.

Speaking Wednesday at a news conference in Cairo, Richard said his group aims to cut ties with its Israeli operator Partner over its activities in the Jewish settlements in the Palestinian West Bank.

"I am ready to abandon this tomorrow morning but the point is that I want to secure the legal risk for the company," said Richard. "I want to terminate this, once again, but I don't want to expose Orange to a level of risk and of penalties that could be really sizable for the company," he added.

Anti-occupation activists in France have been pressuring their government, which holds 25 percent stake at Orange's parent company France Telecom, to end its relationship with Partner. Settlements are illegal according to international law.

Orange CEO's comment, coming less than a week after a Palestinian bid to expel Israel from FIFA, outraged Israeli politicians.

Former finance minister, Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid, condemned the statement as "the highest level of audacity and hypocrisy." He also called for the French government to renounce the statement.

At Orange's local headquarters in the town of Rosh HaAyin on Thursday, some 400 employees protested the remark by covering the company's logo with a giant Israeli flag. Endit