BRUSSELS —- ‘’For the first time, the BDS (Boycott,Disinvestment,Sanctions) movement is on the defensive but we must not underestimate the challenge,’’ Israel’s Minister for Public Security and Strategic Affairs, Gilad Erdan, told representatives of Jewish organizations active in the fight against the deligimization of Israel in Europe, during a meeting last week in Brussels.
Erdan, who is the minister responsible for coordinating the Israeli government’s response to the BDS campaign of boycott and delegitimization of Israel, expressed his appreciation for the work of the various organisations ‘’who are on the frontline of the fight against BDS in Europe’’ for their work.
‘’You are on the frontline of the fight against BDS in Europe, you have boots on the ground. I know that it’s not always easy to speak in the name of Israel,’’ he said.
It was the first time, two years ago, that a specific minister was giving responsibility for the fight against BDS.
But he acknowledged that ‘’today we need a new approach to this fight.’’From a defensive approach we have to turn to an offensive one, more proactive.’’
‘’For this we need a coordinated and powerful approach. In order to fight a network of hate and lies, you need a network,’’ Erdan said.
‘’Our strategy in countering BDS is based on two pillars: we must expose the tru face and goals of this movement which is anti-Semitic and is opposed to the very existence of Israel as a Jewish State. Secondly, we must spread the truth about Israel, about its values, its realisations…’’.
He said: ‘’This new form of anti-Semitism which demonizes the Jewish State and blames it for all the world problems sometimes tries to hide behind a rhetoric of human rights and presents itself as a ‘’pro-human rights and pro-peace.’’
‘’In fact many of the BDS leaders have connections to extremist and terror groups such as Hamas or PFLP,’’ he added.
‘’We are exposing the real goals of the BDS campaign and working with many agencies in the world to supply them with intelligence on this,’’.
The minister acknowledged that more and more decision workers ‘’accept our logic’’ and take steps against BDS.
There is today anti-BDS legislation in 24 US states, in the Congress, in the UK, while France and Spain have made important decision against the anti-Israel movement. Moreover, several BDS events have been cancelled across Europe.
Erdan, who is a top member of Likud, said asked the European Parliament to take action to stop funding for boycotts of Israel, during a meeting of the parliament’s foreign affairs and legal committees.
‘’Boycotts of Israel are illegitimate and distance chances for peace,’’ he told them.
60 members of the European Parliament have recently signed a letter to EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini to stop EU fund to BDS activities and other anti-Israel groups.
The minister came to Brussels one day after US President Trump announced his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. An opportunity for him to tell a group of European journalists that this decision ‘’is very important for Israel.’’ ‘’It represents the reality on the ground and is also important for countering the campaign to delegitimize the State of Israel.’’
Erdan’s Brussels visit was organized by Europe Israel Press Association (EIPA) and the European Jewish Association (EJA).
The minister also held several working meetings with senior EU officials including First Vice President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, EU Commissioner for Security and Counterterrorism Julian King, and Katharina von Schnurbein, the EU ccordinator in the fight against anti-Semitism.
The Minister discussed with Julian King the deepening of cooperation in the fight against terrorism and online incitement. In light of the wave of terror attacks in Europe, there is increasing understanding that the terrorism in Israel and that in EU countries is the same terror, and a great desire to learn from Israel’s experience in the field has been created.
Prior to Erdan’s visit, two other Jewish groups, the European Jewish Congress (EJC) and its Belgian affiliate CCOJB sent a letter to the minister complaining about his partiopation to the EIPA events and saying that instead he should have come as their guest since, the letter argued, they are the only organizations having the legitimacy to act on behalf of the Jews in Europe.
The minister reportedly ignored the letter and instead chose to come and participate to the EIPA events.
In a response to EJC and CCOJB, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, founder of EIPA and EJA, and Alex Benjamin, Director of EIPA, dismissed the ‘’unsurprising childish letter of complaint’’ to Minister Erdan.
‘’Our focus was on inviting organisations that are active on the ground in the fight on the ground and not those that buy their titles, or use ‘democracy’ as cover for their own self-agrandisement.’’
‘’With all due respect to EJC, you do not hold the exclusivety on representing European Jewry. As you well know, we are honoured to speak for and on behald of Jewish communities and organizations across Europe. We absolutely do not need your approval or agreement for our activities,’’ Margolin and Benjamin wrote in their response.
‘’It is very sad to see you choose to focus on ego and control, rather than the real issues that concern European Jewry,’’ they said. ‘’European Jewry wants and needs an organization that deals with their concerned and not engaged in ego and infighting.’’