British Ambassador to Israel Tom Phillips told Haaretz on Thursday that he believes it is unlikely that a British lecturers' union decision to back an academic boycott of Israel would have an impact on bilateral relations between the two countries.

"I can appreciate your frustration with the [University and College Union] decision, but I do not believe that it will have any implications on bilateral relations," said Phillips.

Phillips' comments came as Britain's public services union was set to consider a proposal for imposing a boycott on Israel during its annual conference in mid-June. The proposal calls for the union, which has some 1.4 million members, to urge other British unions to follow its lead and cut off all economic and cultural ties with Israel.

	Advertisement

Meanwhile, Phillips said Wednesday's decision did not impose a boycott but rather called for the issue to be discussed and decided upon by the branches of the union. The ambassador pointed out that there was a good chance that this boycott attempt would eventually fail, as happened with two prior attempts by other academic unions.

The ambassador also stressed that the British government opposes the boycott, but added that there is little it can do to prevent such motions as Britain prides itself on freedom of expression.

"Of course my government is opposed to boycotts, but we have to put things into perspective - a boycott has still not been imposed," he said. "The head of the union herself does not believe that there will be a majority [to pass this]."

Phillips went on to say that Israel must understand that it will draw criticism as long as the occupation continues.

"Israel is a country with high moral values and has to deal with the dilemma of occupation. This is not an easy situation," he said. "There are things that we in Britain do not agree with, but we discuss this with Israel and that is the proper way to do things - through dialogue and not through boycott."

Phillips pointed out that bilateral relations between the United Kingdom and Israel remain strong, citing for example the fact that some 4,000 England soccer fans arrived in Israel for a Euro 2008 qualifying match in March, and that Israel-U.K. trade totals 2.4 billion pounds annually.