BICOM

An emergency debate will take place in the Knesset plenum today to address what Israeli leaders fear is a growing campaign to delegitimize Israel and exclude the country from international forums.

Although the Palestinian Football Association last week eventually dropped its motion to have Israel suspended from FIFA, football’s world governing body, the initiative appears to have placed such campaigns at the centre of Israeli media and public debate. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned his cabinet on Sunday that there is an international effort to “blacken” Israel’s name which seeks to “deny our very right to live here.”

Opposition politicians appear equally concerned at such moves. Today’s Knesset session, titled “boycott and delegitimization of Israel in international organisations” was initiated by Kulanu’s Michael Oren, Nachman Shai of Zionist Union and Meretz’s Michal Rozin. Shai commented, “We cannot evade discussing these issues. We firmly reject the idea of punishing Israel by means of a boycott or sanctions, but that said, we must come up with a diplomatic solution.” Oren said “it is our obligation to increase significantly the resources in this battle.”

Although it is reported that Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely is working to construct a comprehensive plan to combat boycott initiatives, Yediot Ahronot says that there is consternation within the foreign ministry that very few resources have been allocated for such purposes. Amir Ofek, who heads the ministry’s efforts to tackle delegitimization is quoted saying, “We are dealing with a world-embracing phenomenon that is increasing, and we are insanely under-budgeted. This is a joke.”

A report in Haaretz this morning says that Israeli intelligence officials assess that the Palestinian Authority will increase its efforts to exclude Israel from international forums, using the recent FIFA initiative as a template. Meanwhile, yesterday’s symbolic decision by the National Union of Students to boycott Israel was covered prominently on the Channel Two evening news, while Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Lieberman condemned the decision, saying it lacked any “intellectual integrity.”