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Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Friday, 25 Sivan, in Jerusalem, met with Orange Chairman and CEO Stephane Richard and told him at the start of their meeting:

“It’s no secret that the remarks you made last week were widely seen as an attack on Israel and so your visit here is an opportunity to set the record straight. Israel is the one country in the Middle East that guarantees full civic rights. It’s the one county in the Middle East where everyone is protected under the law equally. We seek a genuine and secure peace with our Palestinian neighbors, but that can only be achieved through direct negotiations between the parties without preconditions. It will not be achieved through boycotts and through threats of boycotts.

Stéphane Richard replied “Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister, for your invitation. It’s an honor to meet with you this morning and it give me also an opportunity to clear up the confusion that was created after those statements. I regret deeply this controversy and I want to make totally clear that Orange as a company has never supported and will never support any kind of boycott against Israel. We are doing business, we are doing communication, we are here to connect people, certainly not to participate in any kind of boycott. Israel is a fantastic place to be in the digital industry and of course our will is to strengthen and to keep on investing here.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)