Israel rebuffs US's boycott warning
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday rejected remarks by US Secretary of State John Kerry warning of a growing boycott threat against the Jewish state if peace talks fail.
"Attempts to impose a boycott on the State of Israel are immoral and unjust. Moreover, they will not achieve their goal," he said at the weekly cabinet meeting.
"Second, no pressure will cause me to concede the vital interests of the State of Israel, especially the security of Israel's citizens. For both of these reasons, threats to boycott the State of Israel will not achieve their goal."
Netanyahu's remarks came a day after Kerry warned of the potential economic impact on Israel.
A growing number of governments and international businesses have in recent months said they will not trade with any Israeli firms with ties to Jewish settlements, highlighting the creeping success of a Palestinian-led boycott campaign.
The so-called BDS movement -- boycott, divestment and sanctions -- works to convince governments, businesses and celebrities to cut all ties with Israeli companies active in the occupied Palestinian territories, in a bid to repeat the success of the boycott which ended apartheid in South Africa.
"For Israel, the stakes are also enormously high," the US diplomat warned at a security conference in Munich.
Since January 1, the European Union has blocked all grants and funding to Israeli entities operating beyond the pre-1967 war lines, sparking growing alarm in Israel.
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