The McDonald’s Israel franchise owner, a co-founder of the Peace Now movement, is violating an Israeli law which prohibits such boycotts, wrote the Samarian regional leader.
By United With Israel Staff
Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan is calling on the government to close the branch of McDonald’s Israel at Ben Gurion International Airport, according to reports in Ynet and i24, because the franchise owner in Israel refuses to open branches in Judea and Samaria
Dagan reportedly sent a letter to Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and Transportation Minister Israel Katz, charging that the franchise owner, Omri Padan, a co-founder of the Peace Now movement, is violating an Israeli law which prohibits such boycotts.
“As you know, McDonald’s Israel, headed by Omri Padan, blatantly boycotts the citizens and territories of the State of Israel beyond the Green Line,” wrote the Samarian leader, according to the reports, referring to the term used to describe the boundary between Judea and Samaria and regions which were part of the state before the1967 Six-Day War.
Dagan reportedly also refers to Padan’s refusal to open a branch in the Samarian city of Ariel in 2013.
The regional council leader reportedly also sent a similar message to the director general of the Israel Airports Authority,
According to Ynet, the responses received from the various governmental bodies did not lead Dagan to believe that they would or could take action, or that the law to which he referred applied to their decision-making process.
McDonald’s Israel reportedly responded to the accusations, saying that it never received “a permit from global McDonald’s to open restaurants in [Judea and Samaria].”