Partner owner urges ‘unity’ in face of boycott

Businessman Haim Saban, owner of Partner Communications Ltd., tells Channel 2 Orange’s decision is “completely inappropriate, in all aspects.”

Saban says the statement has no practical significance. “The French have no claim, they signed a contract with us not long ago,” he says.

Saban urges Israeli customers to continue using the network service, saying Partner is “an Israeli company in every way.”

“We need to be very unified against this boycott,” he says.

Saban says he hasn’t spoken to senior officials at Orange since the announcement, and maintains the company is weighing all its options. He says he was somewhat taken by surprise by the announcement, and charges that Orange gave into “anti-Semitic” pressure by the BDS movement.

The businessman also says the Israeli government “needs to do what it needs to do” to combat boycotts. While Sheldon Adelson and Saban are joining forces to fight the movement “the Israeli government can do much more,” he says.

“The government is not acting. It needs to act.”