The Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Thursday night criticizing the British Trade Union's call to boycott Israeli-made goods produced in Judea and Samaria. “Israel condemns the extreme and one-sided declarations made by the British Trade Union,” ministry officials said.
The BTU's negative approach to Israel “has been known to us for some time,” they said.
The Foreign Ministry said the timing of the union's call to boycott Judea and Samaria goods was not a coincidence. The call was issued shortly after the United Nations released a report accusing Israel of war crimes “as part of an orchestrated and pre-planned campaign,” the statement said.
Ministry officials expressed confidence that despite the union's statement, Israel's business ties with Britain will remain healthy. “Israel knows how to distinguish between political declarations, as ugly as they may be, and binding decisions. Therefore, in Israel we assume that political declarations like these have no ill effect on trade between Israel and Britain,” they explained.
Government spokesman Yigal Palmor said boycotting Israel would be counterproductive. “People who think that by boycotting a democratic country they will promote peace and reconciliation only harm the cause they pretend to serve,” he said.
"All this does is damage the credibility of those who launched the boycott,” he added.
Landau: Hypocritical Condemnation
Minister of National Infrastructure Uzi Landau said the condemnation of Israel from the BTU and other British organizations is hypocritical. Britain is involved in wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and has not adhered to the standards it demands that Israel follow, he said.
If the British military had followed the standards set for Israel, it would have killed or wounded far fewer civilians, Landau added.
Tibi: Boycotts of Israel a Good Step
Not all Israeli politicians criticized the union's boycott, however. Member of Knesset Ahmed Tibi of the Ra'am Ta'al party praised the move. “This global movement [towards boycotting Israel] should be encouraged, in order to lead to the dismantling of settlements,” he declared.