JERUSALEM (JTA) — McDonald’s should not be allowed to open a franchise at Ben Gurion Airport because it will not open branches in West Bank settlements, a settler leader has charged.
The unwillingness to open McDonald’s franchises in the West Bank is a boycott and therefore illegal under Israeli law, according to Samarian Regional Council Mayor Yossi Dagan has charged, Ynet reported.
“A company that boycotts part of the state must not be allowed to compete in government tenders,” Dagan said in a letter this week to Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, Transport Minister Israel Katz and Airports Authority director-general Yaakov Ganot.
“I call upon you, by virtue of the authority granted by the law, to limit the participation of any company in boycotting a government tender, including McDonald’s,” he said.
McDonald’s Israel is headed by Omri Padan, a founder of Peace Now, which regards settlements as one of the largest obstacles to the two-state solution. In 2013, Padan said he would not open a branch in a new mall in Ariel because it is located in the West Bank.
McDonald’s Israel said the international McDonald’s office has not approved branches in the West Bank.
