The GC4I conference in Jerusalem held by the Strategic Affairs Ministry once every two years opened this evening with participation of more than 150 pro-Israeli leaders, heads of Jewish communities, and activists from around the world who are fighting the boycott movement and the campaign to delegitimize the State of Israel.
On the opening night, Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan exposed the network of connections joining prominent boycott organizations, calling it the "hate network".
This exposure is the result of Strategic Affairs Ministry work over the past two years, in accordance with the Political-Security Cabinet decision to combat the boycott movement and the phenomenon of delegitimizing Israel.
Erdan says that thanks to the offensive policy the Ministry has led in the last two years, the boycott movement is on the defensive. "Thanks to the diplomatic activity that we led on this subject, millions of dollars fueling the boycott movement has been stopped in recent years, whether by international bodies or by countries."
"Only recently," Erdan said, "we revealed to the European Union that some of the funds it supposedly transfers to human rights organizations are transferred to organizations that maintain contact with terror organizations."
Erdan said that leading countries in the world (Britain, Germany, the United States, France, Canada, etc.) are turning their backs on the boycott movement, noting the anti-boycott legislation passed in 25 US states in recent years and the thwarting of boycott activities in Europe, thanks to the exposure of its anti-Semitic and discriminatory elements against both Jews and the State of Israel.
Despite achievements in the struggle against the boycott movement, Erdan said the attack against Israel was in full swing: in the local authorities, in the trade unions, in the classrooms, and in the grassy knolls of universities around the world.
"The perpetrators of the hate campaign, who imbibe their ideology from the PA and Hamas, united in their goal of destroying the State of Israel, are turning every stone on the globe to incite against the State of Israel. Under the guise of 'civilian activity', a coordinated and financed network operates from Ramallah and Gaza, a quarter of which (10 organizations) have links with terrorist organizations, including Hamas and the Popular Front, to incite the world against the State of Israel."
Among other things, it was revealed that not only did Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine support and embrace the BDS movement, but operatives of these organizations maintained contact with the Palestinian and other boycott organizations.
Erdan also blamed the Palestinian Authority, which has been boycotting Israel for a protracted period, and officially adopted the boycott movement in the Palestinian National Council, which convened in May.
"This is how we saw attempts by senior PA officials to suspend Israel from FIFA and promote the 'black lists' formulated by the UN Human Rights Council. All of these campaigns were extensively promoted by the BDS organizations, which were exposed by the Strategic Affairs Ministry.
"The campaign of delegitimization and the campaigns to boycott Israel are based on Hamas' lies and propaganda, which disguises its terrorist activities under the guise of civilian activity, in order to blacken Israel and deprive it of its right to defend itself. There is a national need to act to expose the lies of Hamas and to display its murderous and anti-Semitic character by launching mortars and rockets into Israel from within the civilian population, terrorists disguised in marches and demonstrations, and terror kites that are presented as children's games."
Erdan added, "The Strategic Affairs Ministry will also lead activity and public relations campaigns in the coming year to expose the murderous truth about Hamas terror so the boycott organizations will find it difficult to continue to incite with the lies that come out of Gaza."
Recently the Ministry identified an intensification in content and audiences to which boycott organizations direct their operations. Erdan noted at the conference that boycott organizations have recently called for a halt to trade agreements with Israel and to stop business cooperation with Israel's defense industries.
Erdan noted that this campaign is no longer promulgated only among civil social organizations, but recently the boycott organizations have begun to lobby among parliament members in various parts of the world. The opening of the first Asian branch of BNC (the umbrella organization of the Palestinian boycott organizations headed by Omar Barghouti, a resident of Israel) this year in India may be part of the boycott organization's strategic aims.
Members of the hate network leading this campaign are: BNC, Palestinian Solidarity Campaign - PSC; Jewish organization US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, War on Want, JVP, and others.
Erdan concluded by saying "the terrorist organizations and the BDS organizations were never closer ideologically and operationally, and I'll continue to lead the attack against perpetrators of the anti-Semitic hate campaign emanating from Gaza and Ramallah."