UK – Speaker of the Knesset in London: 'Boycott campaign against Israel hurts the Palestinians'

“My friend David Cameron, who is undoubtedly a friend of Israel, seems to have forgotten some basic facts about Jerusalem,” said Netanyahu, who continued to note that rather than an “occupier” in Jerusalem, Israel is its protector.”

THE EUROPEAN JEWISH PRESS

LONDON (EJP)—The boycott campaign against Israel hurts Palestinians just as much as it does Israelis, the Speaker of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, said in London where he addressed a joint eeting of MPs and peers and met with British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond.

“The boycott is counterproductive, because anyone who wishes to boycott goods produced in Judea and Samaria ultimately harms the Palestinian workers who earn their wages working for those companies,” Yuli Edelstein said.

One good example of Edelstein’s comments is the SodaStream factory, which was forced to shut down its factory in Mishor Adumim in the West Bank due to boycott calls, resulting in hundreds of Palestinian Arab employees losing their jobs and income. It has moved to the Negev in the south of Israel.

“11 years ago we left Gaza and evicted thousands from their homes and what we got is not peace but terror. The situation was exacerbated by our withdrawal from Gaza”.

Edelstein noted that unfortunately most of the funds that reach Gaza are invested in rockets and terror tunnels instead of in the welfare of the population.

During his meeting with Hammond, Edelstein, who was accompanied by MKs Yoav Kish (Likud), Hilik Bar (Zionist Union) and Revital Swid (Zionist Union), thanked his his host for Britain’s friendship, saying it is one of Israel’s closest friends in Europe and the world. He also thanked Britain for its opposition to boycotts of Israel.

In his address to both members of the UK House of Lords and House of Commons, under heavy security, Edelstein spoke about the peace process with the Palestinians and said that peace is not on the horizon.

The event was organized by the British Inter-Parliamentary Union and Edelstein became the first Israeli Knesset speaker to speak before British parliament.

Edelstein said that the BDS movement was “good at projecting pictures, but terrible at helping the Palestinians,” referring to an enormous messages projected onto the outer walls of the parliamentary Palace of Westminster by anti-Israel activists calling on Britain to “arrest illegal occupation Edelstein [sic],” and declaring “Israel’s racist leader Edelstein not welcome.”

The Knesset Speaker said that Israel cannot “leave Britain as hostages of BDS and all these small and vocal groups”.

“We have to tell them the truth about Israel,’’ he added.

Edelstein’s visit was met with protest by Manuel Hassassian, the Palestinian Authority’s ambassador to London, who harshly criticized the invite to the Knesset Speaker, claiming Edelstein’s appearance in Westminster would legitimize Israeli settlement policies.

“Mr. Edelstein lives on an illegal Israeli settlement built on Palestinian land and he publicly opposes Palestinian statehood,” Hassassian wrote in daily newspaper The Independent last week.

Last week, British Prime Minister David Cameron said the House of Commons that Israel’s construction in “occupied” eastern Jerusalem was “shocking”.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu later responded and said Cameron did not know the facts about Jerusalem.

“My friend David Cameron, who is undoubtedly a friend of Israel, seems to have forgotten some basic facts about Jerusalem,” said Netanyahu, who continued to note that rather than an “occupier” in Jerusalem, Israel is its protector.

“Only Israeli sovereignty prevents ISIS and Hamas from igniting the holy sites, as they do throughout the Middle East,” he added.

During his two-day visit Edelstein also met with 300 young Jewish activists and a group of Jewish community leaders.

Edelstein, a former refusenik who left the Soviet Union for Israel in 1987 after three years in various gulags, has been Speaker of the Knesset since 2013 and is a senior member