Israel PM rejects Kerry's boycott warning

JERUSALEM

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) arrives to the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem February 2, 2014. REUTERS Photo

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday 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 start of 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.
 
"For Israel, the stakes are also enormously high," the US diplomat warned at a security conference in Munich. "For Israel there's an increasing de-legitimisation campaign that has been building up. People are very sensitive to it. There are talk of boycotts and other kinds of things," he said.
 
The status quo could not be maintained if the talks were to collapse, he warned.
 
"It's not sustainable. It's illusionary. There's a momentary prosperity, there's a momentary peace ... But the fact is the status quo will change if there is failure." 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.
 
Last week, US actress Scarlett Johansson was forced to chose between being an ambassador for Oxfam and taking on a new role as the public face of Israel's SodaStream, which has a factory in the West Bank, after the international aid group said the two roles were "incompatible." She resigned her position at Oxfam.
 
On the same day, Norway's sovereign wealth fund blacklisted two Israeli companies involved in settlements construction in annexed east Jerusalem.
 
Since January 1, the European Union has also blocked all grants and funding to Israeli entities operating beyond the pre-1967 war lines, sparking growing alarm in Israel.

Kerry coaxed Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table in late July 2013 for nine months of direct talks which will end in April. So far, there has been very little visible progress.