The mayor of Iceland's capital Reykjavik said on Saturday he would scrap plans for a boycott of Israeli goods, a proposal which had raised outrage in Israel and elsewhere.
"I will propose to the Municipal Council that the idea is withdrawn," Dagur Eggertsson said on Icelandic public television. "This was ill-prepared. I blame myself for not following it more closely," he added.
Reykjavik Council had on Tuesday approved a motion to halt the city's purchase of Israeli products until the occupation of the Palestinian territories ends. It was thus en route to becoming the latest European city to join a global boycott and divestment campaign.
The Reykjavik City Council has a left-wing majority. Representatives of Iceland's center-right ruling parties voted against the resolution.
Last week, the World Jewish Congress urged Iceland's Federal Government to act against the boycott, which it said only strengthened extremists on both sides. WJC President Ronald Lauder, who was in contact with leading personalities in Iceland, called on the country’s leadership to make “a dramatic public gesture that will demonstrate to the people of Iceland and the world that there is boycotts are wrong and counterproductive.”
Lauder said the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement "feeds into the worst stereotypes Israelis and Palestinians have of each other, and prevents any political or social dialogue from taking place. Instead of boycott calls, Iceland should initiate or support efforts aimed at fostering dialogue and cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians."
Iceland's center-right government had also criticized the initial move, with the Foreign Ministry saying it did not conform with the law or World Trade Organization rules. Mayor Eggertsson said he would present a new plan to the City Council focusing only on goods made in the territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War.
The original boycott, included in a motion presented by Councilor Björk Vilhelmsdóttir of the Social Democrats earlier this week, was approved by the majority of councilors. The mayor admitted that the motion hadn’t been prepared well enough and that it would now be changed and clarified.
“I have stated that it should have been made much clearer in the text [that only products from territories occupied by Israel should be boycotted], although that’s what we had in mind. I will suggest to the City Council that the motion the way it reads now be withdrawn while we discuss the next steps and how to present it,” Eggertson said.
The mayor added: “I must admit that I’m angry at myself for not having done this the way I wanted.” He said he had been surprised at the reaction to the city’s decision. “I expected a reaction but not on this scale. It appears to be a stronger reaction than when Iceland declared support for an independent Palestine [in 2011].”
