Israeli Company Cuts Ties With France’s Orange Amid BDS Row
Image by Getty Images
An Israeli communications company will end its relationship with French telecommunications giant Orange next month, following a BDS controversy.
The severing of 17 years of ties comes eight months after Orange CEO Stephan Richard said at a news conference in Cairo that his company would abandon its Israeli affiliate Partner “tomorrow morning” if not for contractual penalties, raising questions about a company boycott of Israel.
Richard later said that he “sincerely” regretted the “controversy,” and that he was speaking “of a purely business issue.”
He came to Israel a week later to apologize in person to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying: “I regret deeply this controversy and I want to make it totally clear that Orange as a company has never supported and will never support any kind of boycott against Israel.”
French President Francois Hollande also reiterated his strong opposition to anti-Israel boycotts in the wake of the controversy. Orange is 25 percent owned by the French government.
Partner will receive about $100,000 in compensation for Richard’s damaging statements and for agreeing to give up the Orange brand name. Partner said it would now work on rebranding.
Orange and Partner signed an agreement following Richard’s statements to part ways within 24 months. Partner had previously been expected to operate under the Orange name following a new 10-year agreement that was to expire in 2025.
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
