Rep. Peter Roskam (R., Ill.) is petitioning President Francois Hollande of France to distance himself and his country from efforts by the telecommunications company Orange to sever ties with Israel as part of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement.
Stéphane Richard, Orange’s chairman and chief executive, sparked a backlash earlier this week when he publicly stated that his company intends to withdraw from Israel.
Orange, which partners with the Israeli firm Partner Communications to provide cell services in the Jewish state, has been under pressure for some time from BDS activists to pull out of the country. Orange is partially owned by the French state.
"Our intention is to withdraw from Israel," Richard was quoted as saying. "It will take time [but] for sure we will do it … I am ready to do this tomorrow morning … but without exposing Orange to huge risks."
The CEO’s comments quickly drew condemnation from leading American Jewish organizations and led Roskam on Friday to petition Hollande directly, according to a copy of the letter obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
Referring to Richard’s intentions as "a politically motivated break" with Israel, Roskam urged Hollande "to reject these comments immediately."
"These comments came after a long campaign by promoters of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement to get Orange to sever ties with Partner, including a pro-BDS protest at the Orange annual general meeting in Paris in May," Roskam wrote. "As you know, the French government owns a substantial stake in Orange. Due to the discriminatory and deleterious nature of this economic attack against one of America’s closest allies, I am urging you, on behalf of the French Republic, to reject these comments immediately."
Critics of the BDS movement, which seeks to promote economic divestment from Israel due to the ongoing conflict with the Palestinians, accuse its leaders of being anti-Semitic and motivated by a desire to eradicate the Jewish state.
Roskam expressed concern that such a move by Orange could inflame anti-Semitism in France, which has already suffered from mounting hostility against the Jewish community.
"Cutting off economic ties with an Israeli company in political protest will only advance the cause of hatred and intolerance in France and throughout the world," he wrote. "It certainly won’t help achieve peace in the Middle East, and it moves the global economy in a dangerous and unproductive direction."
Following days of backlash against his comments, Richard claimed Thursday that his desire to break ties with Israel is purely a business decision.
"This has nothing to do with Israel; we love Israel, we are in Israel, in the enterprise market, we invest money in innovation in Israel, we are a friend of Israel, so this has absolutely nothing to do with any kind of political debate, in which I don’t want to be," Richard was quoted as telling an Israeli newspaper.
Roskam dismissed Richard’s explanation as "shamelessly flimsy."
He went on in his letter to urge Hollande "to take this opportunity to reject Orange’s efforts to marginalize and economically destabilize Israel. France and the United States have a long and fruitful partnership rooted in extensive strategic and economic cooperation, and economic attacks such as this against our mutual friend Israel cannot be left unanswered."
Roskam is the author of a bill that would work to prevent U.S. trade partners from supporting and adopting BDS efforts.
Jewish organizations in recent days have lashed out at Orange.
B’nai B’rith International (BBI), a Jewish advocacy organization, said in a statement that Orange has a long history of anti-Israel activity.
"This is not the first time Orange has demonstrated a lack of corporate responsibility in the Middle East," the group said in a statement. "In 2012, B’nai B’rith revealed that Orange was one of the companies, along with multiple U.N. agencies, to hire Emad Hajjaj, a Jordan-based Palestinian cartoonist with a long record of virulently anti-Semitic imagery in his work. B’nai B’rith wrote to the groups patronizing Hajjaj, but Orange failed to reply."
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) also accused Orange of harboring anti-Israel sentiment.
"Orange took a cowardly decision to cave in to demands by the international campaign to boycott Israel," the ADL said in a statement. "Orange has subsidiaries which operate in disputed territories elsewhere in the world, so this decision is not about the West Bank, but about Israel and the campaign to delegitimize the Jewish state."
Other Jewish groups have petitioned the French ambassador to distance himself from Orange.