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Orange CEO assures Netanyahu of no backing boycott against Israel

Xinhua, June 12, 2015 Adjust font size:

The CEO of the French telecoms group Orange told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday that the company will never support a campaign to boycott the Jewish state.

"I regret deeply this controversy and I want to make totally clear that Orange as a company has never support and will never support any kind of boycott against Israel," Stephane Richard said prior to his meeting with Netanyahu in Israel.

Richard, who last week said, in a press conference in Cairo, he would end his contact with the Israeli communications firm Partner, met with Netanyahu in Jerusalem Friday to clear the air during a two-day visit to Israel.

During the meeting, Richard thanked the prime minister for giving him "the opportunity to clear up the confusion" following his remarks, adding that the company wishes to "strengthen and keep on investing" in Israel.

Netanyahu, for his part, said that it's "no secret" the remarks by Richard was viewed as an attack on Israel and appreciated the opportunity to clear the air in the French businessman's visit.

He said Israel seeks peace with the Palestinians, which "can only be achieved through direct negotiations" rather than boycotts and threats.

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement was launched in 2005 at the behest of Palestinian non-governmental organizations, in order to press Israel through economic and political measures to end the Israeli occupation of the Palestinians, ongoing since Israel's victory in the 1967 Mideast War, evacuate its settlements and give full rights to Arab and Palestinian residents of the state.

It has members in Europe, the United States, Latin America and the Middle East, and is mainly successful in faculties of academic institutions.

The movement gathered momentum in recent months, amid the collapse of peace talks in April 2014 between Israel and the Palestinians, the ongoing construction of Jewish settlements and the recent war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip last summer.

On Sunday, Netanyahu said the international boycott movement is an "offensive" on Israel. He added on Monday that the BDS is anti-Semitic and its leaders want to see "the destruction of Israel." Endit