Ex-Israel leader calls for UK boycott of Netanyahu

Adolf Goebbels
Published on Mar 22, 2023
(16 Mar 2023)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tel Aviv - 16 March 2023
1. Set up shot of former Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Ehud Olmert, former Prime Minister of Israel:
"I urge the leaders of the friendly countries to the state of Israel to refrain from meeting with the Israeli prime minister. I know this is quite extraordinary as a former prime minister of the state of Israel, I think that the present government of Israel is simply anti-Israeli. And Benjamin Netanyahu does not represent the values, the fundamental principles which have characterized the state of Israel for many years since its inception."
3. Cutaway
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Ehud Olmert, former Prime Minister of Israel:
"Benjamin Netanyahu leads a government whose members support the pogroms which was committed against the Palestinian township in the territories of the West Bank (Hawara). The ministers in the cabinet of Netanyahu support the suppression of Palestinians and the denial of fundamental human rights to these people. The Minister of National Security (Itamar Ben Gvir) in this government is a person who was convicted in the Israeli court for terrorism against Palestinians. This is a government which is a shame to the basic values of the people of Israel and the Jewish people."
5. Cutaway
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Ehud Olmert, former Prime Minister of Israel:
"Those who are friends of the state of Israel should express their explicit discontent with this by not meeting with someone that does not represent the basic values of the state of Israel. I expressly call upon the Prime Minister of Great Britain (Rishi Sunak) to cancel the visit of the Israeli Prime Minister next week in London and to avoid meeting him because it would be a shame for the basic principles of Great Britain to be associated with what Netanyahu represents today. Those who are in favor of the state of Israel should be against the prime minister of the state of Israel."
7. Olmert leaving

STORYLINE:
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert urged Thursday British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to refuse to meet Netanyahu because of the Israeli leaderâ€™s alliance with far-right politicians who he said have tolerated or even supported violent West Bank settlers.

"I urge the leaders of the friendly countries to the state of Israel to refrain from meeting with the Israeli prime minister," Olmert told The Associated Press.

"I know this is quite extraordinary as a former prime minister of the state of Israel, I think that the present government of Israel is simply anti-Israeli.

The Israeli leader is reportedly heading to Britain in the coming weeks.

Olmert joined a chorus of high-tech leaders, Nobel-winning economists and prominent security officials have spoken out against it, military reservists have threatened to stop reporting for duty and even some of Israelâ€™s closest allies, including the U.S., have urged Netanyahu to slow down.

Repeated efforts by Israelâ€™s figurehead president, Isaac Herzog, to broker a compromise have not yielded fruit.

Netanyahu returned to power in December, following the countryâ€™s fifth election in under four years, at the head of the most right-wing government in Israelâ€™s 75-year history.

Olmert, a fierce critic of Netanyahu, was jailed for bribery in 2014 and sentenced to 6 years.

He served 16 months for his role in a corruption scandal.

Last year an Israeli court ruled Olmert defamed his successor, Netanyahu, and ordered him to pay damages to the former leader and his family.

AP video shot by Ami Bentov

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