The Psagot Settlement. Photo: Wikipedia.

JNS.org – The Netherlands’ largest drinking water supplier, Vitens, announced Tuesday that it was immediately cutting its business ties with Israel’s national water corporation, Mekorot, over the company’s operations in the West Bank.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor noted that the Dutch may not want to conduct business with Mekorot, but the Palestinians do.

“It is more than strange that this Dutch company should boycott an Israel peer that works with the World Bank on a very important regional cooperation project, which includes the Jordanians and Palestinians,” Palmor said, referring to the newly announced project of building a pipeline from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. “This only shows that by caving in to boycott pressures, one makes absurd decisions that result in a topsy-turvy situation.”

Britain also increased its financial pressure on Israel, with the British Department of Trade and Investment issuing an advisory to British citizens and companies on Tuesday, warning them against pursuing business ventures with Israeli companies or communities located beyond the 1967 lines.