Israeli PM likens BDS to Nazis

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday compared the BDS movement to the Nazi practices against Jews, his office said after a meeting with the Polish foreign minister.

According to AFP, Netanyahu spoke with Polish Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyna about “the defamation of the Jewish people” on Polish soil when the Nazis controlled much of Europe.

He said: “The attacks on the Jews were always preceded by slander. What was done to the Jewish people then is being done to the Jewish state now. In those days [in Poland] we could do nothing. Today we can speak our mind, hold our ground. We are going to do both.”

The Israeli government has launched a massive diplomatic and media counter-offensive in wake of remarks made by the head of a French telecommunications company firm that he is seriously considering ceasing work in Israel, AFP reported. Israel accuses the campaign backers of seeking its destruction.

Netanyahu said: “We will continue to resist boycotts, defamations and de-legitimisation.”