London mayor slams ‘foolish’ Israel boycotters

The mayor of London lashes out against boycotters of Israel as “lefty academics” with no real influence.

Boris Johnson speaks Monday in Tel Aviv during a visit to lure Israeli tech businesses to London.

Locals are jittery as the anti-Israel campaign known as BDS — an acronym for boycott, divestment and sanctions — appears to be gaining steam. They claim that pro-Palestinian activists are not out to promote peace, but instead aim to delegitimize the country’s very existence as a Jewish state.

Johnson says, “I cannot think of anything more foolish” than to boycott “a country that when all is said and done is the only democracy in the region, the only place that has in my view a pluralist open society.”

He says the boycotters are “a very small minority.”

— AP

הבוקר פתח את המסחר בבורסה בתל אביב, בוריס ג'ונסון, הנמצא בביקורו הראשון בישראל כראש עיריית לונדון#פתיחת_מסחר pic.twitter.com/Mx2jnls7as

— הבורסה לניירות ערך Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (@TASE_IL) November 9, 2015