William Who? 🔃

Leaked Israeli documents reveal how Benjamin Netanyahu's government waged a secret campaign to stop boycotts of Israel in Britain. That included a "sensitive" meeting with Michael Gove -- when he was justice secretary in 2015 -- about countering the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement. Israel’s lobbying campaign was led by its justice minister Ayelet Shaked, who met Gove in London in November 2015. Shaked, from the far-right Jewish Home party, was alarmed by a European Commission plan to label goods produced on illegally occupied Palestinian land as originating from an “Israeli settlement”. The issue was consequently high on Shaked’s agenda, with the Israeli government fearing that the labels would help pro-Palestine boycott campaigns. Gove “enjoyed” meeting Shaked and specifically requested “more information” from the Israeli embassy on the labelling issue, the leaked emails show. Israel’s foreign ministry then arranged for an analysis to be prepared for Gove “as soon as possible” on the imminent EU measures. “I am aware of the workload, but there is an unusual window of opportunity here”, noted one Israeli official, apparently referring to Gove’s openness to guidance. declassifieduk.org/israels-s…