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Itongadol.- Orange Chairman and CEO Stéphane Richard met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayhu on Friday morning in the prime minister\’s office. Richard requested the meeting in order to apologize and clarify the company\’s position regarding Israel, after his statements about wanting to end business ties with Israel created a major controversy.
"It\’s no secret that what you said last week has been seen by many as an attack on Israel. Your visit here is an opportunity to set the record straight," said Netanyahu at the beginning of the meeting.
"We seek true peace with our Palestinian neighbors, but this can be achieved only through direct negotiations between the parties without preconditions. Peace cannot be achieved through boycotts or threats of boycotts," he added.
Richard thanked the prime minister for the invitation to visit Israel and emphasized that Orange does not intend to participate in the boycott against Israel.
"Orange\’s vision is to connect people. That is the opposite of any involvement in boycott or in political controversy," he said. " Our actions are not based on any political objectives but rather on economic and business objectives. It is therefore ludicrous to think that our business development plans in Israel are in way the result of political pressure," he added.
“What Richard said in Cairo was very damaging,” one government official said, adding that it was important to hear him retract the comments with the prime minister.
“The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement has had very little success in the world of business, and no impact on the Israeli economy. It is a failure, so that when [Richard] made his comments in Cairo, they thought they had something. It is very important that it is clearly understood that this was not the case.”