Adalah-NY is claiming victory in helping to force Israeli industrialist Lev Leviev out of the settlement construction business. Adalah has been campaigning for years against Leviev, including some very creative protests outside his flagship Manhattan boutique. From an Adalah-NY press release:
Africa Israel, the flagship company of Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev, announced this week that it is no longer involved in Israeli settlement projects and that it has no plans for future settlement activities. Africa Israel subsequently denied that this was a political decision. However, in the last few years numerous organizations, firms, governments and celebrities have exerted pressure and severed their relationships with Leviev and his companies over their involvement in settlement construction and other human rights abuses, in response to a boycott campaign initiated by Adalah-NY.
Israel’s Coalition of Women for Peace disclosed on Monday that in an official letter to the Coalition, Africa Israel stated, “Neither the company nor any of its subsidiaries and/or other companies controlled by the company are presently involved in or has any plans for future involvement in development, construction or building of real estate in settlements in the West Bank.” In follow-up articles in the Israeli media on Monday, Africa Israel said that the statement was “a description of the business today” and that “Africa Israel builds for all the public in Israel, and does not deal in politics or any other policy."
Ethan Heitner from Adalah-NY explained, “Following years of settlement construction, and pro-settlement statements and activities by Lev Leviev, the public announcement by Africa Israel that it has no plans to build Israeli settlements is clearly a result of pressure from the growing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. This provides concrete evidence of the way in which the BDS movement can change companies’ behavior. But Africa Israel can’t speak out of both sides of its mouth and expect a clean bill of health. Africa Israel must unambiguously renounce settlement activity, and all other involvement in violations of Palestinian rights. And Lev Leviev needs to end his involvement in settlement construction through other companies like Leader Management and Development, as well as his support for human rights abuses in the diamond industry in countries like Angola and Namibia.”
Great news
It helps that Leviev’s company took a big financial hit.
Sheldon Adelson also lost tons of money but unfortunately not enough to stop him.
My heart is with Adalah but I think there’s wishful thinking on its part about Leviev and if the guy is dropping out of the real estate development, it isn’t because his bones got rattled by the BDS; he must have something up his sleeve. There are about 8 separate companies of Leviev involved in the settlements building but the only one under the spotlight is Africa-Israel. There are probably 10 other companies also involved and if one digs hard enough, he’d find most of them so I doubt Lev Leviev has given up on anything and if he is true to form, he’ll simply continue doing whatever he was doing but under a separate name or names.
A little insight from Business Week of October 7th on the changing times in Israel’s high finances and about current legislation being worked on to limit the reach of Israel’s tycoons and Leviev is one of the named suspects; this may have something to do with Leviev’s alleged quitting the settlements building:
“… On the flip side, an oligarch’s woes can turn into Israel’s woes. Lev Leviev, a wealthy diamond merchant and developer, borrowed about $2 billion from financial institutions in Israel to acquire property from Russia to Manhattan, including the old New York Times building. Last year he dragged the entire Tel Aviv Stock Exchange down 2.3 percent when he told investors he couldn’t pay off the debt on time. Investors feared a default by his Africa Israel Investments would damage every major institutional investor in Israel and eventually hurt the economy. Although Africa Israel restructured its debt and the market has recouped its losses, regulators are still concerned by the damage that one large group can inflict on the rest of the economy.
Now, as Israel gets back to work after its September holidays, pressure on the government to act is likely to pick up. The Finance Ministry is studying a proposal to bar groups that own financial companies from holding industrial businesses. “There is a danger to the economy and we need to make sure we counter-act,” Avi Simhon, head of Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz’s economic advisory board, said in an interview in Jerusalem. “I would guess we would reach some decisions in less than a year.”
link to businessweek.com
BREAKING! JEWS CONTROL ISRAEL!
Highly unlikely he’s out of the business of settlement building. Bet he’s just trying to take the heat off. Congrats to the BDS movement, however, for forcing Lev to at least suggest he’s out of the settlement building business.
My reaction: when pigs fly. There is no way to believe what they say. They have made their position clear. The lands of the WB belong to Israel. Perhaps they feel some more deception is needed to make that happen but there is no way that any sentient being should believe them. They know how easy it is to deceive the rest of the world in what they really wish to achieve. BDS must keep up the pressure, do not let up until they are completely bankrupt. Maybe at that point we can relax. Even with Adelson, who lost about 90 per cent of his wealth or about 15 billion dollars in the latest real estate fiasco, has not pulled back from his support for the WB expansion. These guys are not just successful investors but dedicated WB expansionists. It is difficult to imagine that once they pass on that their heirs will continue with this fanatical mission of settlement building but until then they must be relentlessly opposed. No one should doubt that they have a life mission that goes beyond simple profit.
Just to emphasize, Adam and Walid and others, that Adalah-NY is NOT claiming that Lev Leviev is out of the settlement-building industry. Africa Israel Investments, which is his largest company, and the one with the most international investment, seems to be for the moment, and it was AFI that was the target of the Norwegian divestment, etc. etc. as the largest and most easily targeted of Leviev’s companies. As far as we know, and as we noted in our press release, another Leviev company, Leader Management, is still building on the land of the village of Jayyous.
However, this is still a victory, because AFI was the target of substantial pressure, and seems to be the first company to have acknowledged that pressure.
Ethan, I’m a firm believer BDS and may there be many more victories but the point I was making is that when sleazy people make declarations of being out of something, I don’t believe them. BDS has to start aiming at Israel rather than just the West Bank.