by Israel Hayom Staff
A day after U.K.'s national student union votes to join global efforts to boycott Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slams move, saying the group "condemn themselves" • "Israel has an exemplary democracy ... ISIS tramples human rights," he says.
The U.K.'s National Union of Students passed a
motion on Tuesday to join global efforts to boycott Israel, eliciting
outrage in Israel.
The group voted in favor of joining the
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement to protest Israel's presence
in Judea and Samaria. The move is not binding, meaning that each local
chapter across the U.K. is free to decide whether it wishes to adopt or
reject the decision.
The resolution, titled "Solidarity with
Palestine: Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions," passed the NUS National
Executive Council with 19 votes in favor, four against, and one
abstention, London's Jewish Chronicle reported.
The National Union of Students is a
confederation of 600 students' unions, amounting to more than 95% of all
higher and further education unions in the U.K., representing the
interests of more than 7 million students.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leveled
harsh criticism at the group, saying that by boycotting Israel they
"condemn themselves."
"The national student group in Britain voted
to support a boycott of Israel," Netanyahu said after a meeting with
Canadian Foreign Minister Rob Nicholson.
"This is less than a year after they refused
to support a boycott of ISIS [Islamic State]. They boycott Israel, but
they refuse to boycott ISIS. That tells you everything you want to know
about the BDS movement. They condemn Israel, and do not condemn ISIS.
They condemn themselves.
"Israel has an exemplary democracy: We have
academic freedom, press freedom, human rights. ISIS tramples human
rights to dust. They burn people alive in cages and the national student
groups in Britain refuse to boycott ISIS and they boycott Israel."
Netanyahu prefaced his remarks with gratitude
toward the visiting Canadian foreign minister, to whom he said, "Israel
values the unstinting, unfaltering support of Canada in an international
environment that is often marked by cynicism and double talk."
On Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry issued a
statement saying, "The British student union's decision to boycott
Israel is one without any practical implications, made by a group that
has already expressed anti-Israeli sentiments in the past.
"Instead of hating Israel, the British
students would be better off putting their efforts into studying history
and understanding that it doesn't take much to go from verbal hatred
and prejudice to committing heinous crimes."
Meanwhile, Yesh Atid Chairman MK Yair Lapid
called on the British government to condemn the student union's
decision. Opposition Leader MK Isaac Herzog said that Netanyahu needed
to appoint a foreign minister as soon as possible to combat this
diplomatic onslaught against Israel. Netanyahu himself currently holds
the foreign affairs portfolio, having yet to name a minister to fill the
position.
Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely met
with Nicholson earlier in the day, thanking him for Canada's support for
Israel on all fronts.
"Canada is a true friend to Israel. I appreciate you standing beside us," she said.
Israel Hayom Staff
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=25927
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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