Israeli opposition accuses Netanyahu of strengthening BDS after UN vote

Zionist Union criticizes UN vote on Israeli settlement, but lambasts PM for his "diplomatic typhoon" in response to the matter.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Updated: DECEMBER 29, 2016 01:41
Netanyahu and Herzog (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST,REUTERS)
Netanyahu and Herzog
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST,REUTERS)
Zionist Union MKs  accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being a diplomatic failure and weakening Israel at a press conference in the Knesset on Wednesday.
The party unveiled a graphic with “BBDS” on it, a play on Netanyahu’s nickname Bibi, suggesting that the prime minister has strengthened the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, and another that says “Bibidud” a pun on Bibi and bidud, the Hebrew word for isolation.
Opposition leader Isaac Herzog (Zionist Union) said that “whoever doesn’t praise Netanyahu every morning and write a Pravda article in his favor is called a traitor and no less.
“This phenomenon is growing, and important countries joined it, like our ally the US, together with Germany, France, Russia, China and other countries around the world. This isn’t national pride – this is national insanity,” he said.
Herzog said the UN Security Council Resolution was “sad and difficult... attacking Israel on sensitive issues,” and that his party seeks to protect Jerusalem and the major settlement blocs – which secure the center of the country – and supports a permanent solution.
Netanyahu: Israel to reassess UN ties after settlement vote
The resolution was preventable and “erases an entire generation of diplomatic achievements and shatters our entire foreign policy,” he added.
Now, Herzog said, BDS organizations can “rest easy,” because Netanyahu is helping them.
“We are paying diplomatic prices and contributing to the boycott against Israel,” he stated. “I am warning Netanyahu: You are weakening Israel. You are power hungry and losing touch with reality. Go home.”
MK Tzipi Livni (Zionist Union) said what Israelis are seeing today is a preview of the price they will have to pay if the Right annexes territory.
“The greatest damage is to IDF soldiers, who will be brought to The Hague if the government passes the settlement legalization bill,” Livni warned.
Livni added that when she was in charge of negotiations, the Western Wall remained under Israeli sovereignty, but that Netanyahu is making it a controversial matter.
“When there is a war against our enemies, we will always stand with Israel, but we cannot stand with a government that turns our allies into enemies with its policies,” she stated.