The Israeli ambassador has met Irish Congress of Trade Unions general secretary David Begg to express his dismay at a call by the Ictu for a boycott by its members of Israeli goods.
An Ictu spokesman confirmed yesterday that Dr Zion Evrony met Mr Begg and senior Ictu representatives on Tuesday. He said the meeting was scheduled to last 40 minutes but ran to an hour and a half, during which there was a "full and frank exchange of views". No agreement was reached.
He also confirmed the Israeli ambassador to London met union officials in Belfast on Monday for the same purpose.
The meetings follow a vote by Ictu delegates at their biennial conference in Bundoran in July calling for the boycott.
Two motions were passed from the Belfast and District Trades Union Council and from the Derry Trades Council.
The motions asserted congress's "outrage" at "continued human rights abuses being suffered by the Palestinian people", and refer to such issues as "the continued occupation and destruction of Palestinian lands and Palestinian homes in breach of the Geneva Convention and numerous United Nations resolutions".
The Derry motion calls for "a boycott of Israeli goods and services similar to the boycott of South African goods during the era of apartheid".
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