Israeli cellular operator’s employees protest against Orange

Close to 400 employees of Israel’s Partner mobile service provider demonstrated Thursday against French mobile giant Orange, whose CEO said Wednesday that his company would like to drop its association with Partner in protest over Israeli policies toward the Palestinians.

The workers at Partner, which pays to use the Orange name, gathered in Rosh Haayin outside the company’s local offices.

A number of employees covered the Orange logo atop the company building with a large Israeli flag.

Meanwhile, the Israeli embassy in Paris sought “immediate clarification” from French authorities over Orange CEO Stephane Richard’s remarks, Israeli Ambassador to France Yossi Gal said. Foreign Ministry workers were set to “express the severity” of the remarks to French news outlets and government offices, Gal said.

Earlier, Partner’s outgoing head Chaim Romano threatened legal action against Richard in interviews Thursday, saying that his company decried Richard’s statement, which could hurt Partner’s bottom line and raise the ire of Israeli subscribers.

“We are an Israeli company that provides service to everyone,” Romano told the Walla news site. “We are confident that the Israeli public will know how to tell the difference between us and there will be no harm to Orange Israel, which is a separate company.”

Romano explained that Partner is a publicly owned Israeli company and that it only receives branding rights from Orange. “If Richard wants to leave, he will pay a lot of money,” he added.

Speaking Wednesday at a news conference in Cairo, during which he laid out the company’s plans for the years ahead in Egypt, Richard said that his company’s intention was to withdraw the Orange brand from Israel as soon as possible, but that the move would take time. He said that he would like to end cooperation with Partner “tomorrow,” but that to do so would incur a “huge risk” of penalties.

“Our intention is to withdraw from Israel. It will take time” but “for sure we will do it,” he said. “I am ready to do this tomorrow morning… but without exposing Orange to huge risks.”

The statement came as Israeli leaders upped their rhetoric against the pro-Palestinian Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement, which seeks to isolate Israel and pressure it into changing its policies.

“I am very, very angry. I think that what he said is the result of very significant pressure from pro-Palestinian [groups],” incoming Partner CEO Isaac Benbenisti told Army Radio following Richard’s comments.

On Wednesday, Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely wrote to Richard asking for clarification.

“I must admit to have been taken aback by these reports which do not become a responsible global company such as Orange,” she said in the English-language letter, a copy of which was seen by AFP.

“I am confident that these reports do not reflect the intent of your company. I therefore urge you to clarify the matter as soon as possible.”

Despite Romano’s assertion that Israeli users would distinguish between between Orange and Partner, Israeli synthetic grass marketer Pashut Yarok was quick to announce Thursday the immediate cancellation of 34 Partner mobile phone lines used by the company. Pashut Yarok also advised its employees to avoid using mobile networks associated with Orange during travels abroad.

“The fight against boycotts should be shared by all citizens of Israel, regardless of political views, and we feel a duty and a right to take part in it,” Pashut Yarok wrote in a statement. “We hope that Partner will find a quick way to break away from Orange, which has become a burden, and possibly sue [the company] for damages caused.”

MK Yair Lapid, head of the opposition Yesh Atid party, blasted Richard for the comments, and called on state-run France Telecom, which owns a majority stake in Orange, to distance itself from the comments.

“This is hypocrisy of the highest order,” he said in a statement. “I don’t remember him having a problem making money here and profiting from Israeli citizens. The State of Israel is an island of sanity in this difficult neighborhood and we certainly won’t accept lessons in morality from someone so self-righteous and detached.”

French human rights organizations have been pushing their government, which has a quarter stake in Orange, and the company itself, to end the relationship over Partner Communications Ltd.’s activity in Israeli settlements, which are considered illegal by the international community.

The carrier, one of three major providers in the Israeli cell market, is available in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

At the end of May, five non-governmental organizations and two unions in France asked Orange to state publicly its willingness to sever its ties with Partner and denounce “attacks on human rights” they said the Israeli company had carried out.

In Egypt, local Orange franchisee Mobinil has also come under pressure from BDS activists protesting Orange’s business with Israel.