(MENAFN- AFP) The boss of French telecoms giant Orange flew in to Israel Thursday on a mission to soothe anger over a row sparked by plans to withdraw the brand from the Jewish state.
Two Israeli officials confirmed Stephane Richard had landed at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv shortly before 1100 GMT, with the company saying he would meet with officials and Orange staff during his two-day visit.
He was later photographed by AFP on a visit to a company lab in Tel Aviv, where he was seen trying on a pair of hi-tech goggles.
An official in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the Israeli premier would meet Richard on Friday.
Orange said Richard wanted to "clarify the misunderstanding" sparked by his remarks during a news conference in Cairo on June 3 in which he said the firm was planning to withdraw its brand from Israel at the earliest possible opportunity.
Orange is not a telecoms operator in Israel but licences its name and logo for use by local firm Partner Communications under an agreement due to run until 2025.
At another company facility in an industrial zone east of Tel Aviv, a billboard displaying the Orange logo had been covered by a massive Israeli flag, in a sign of the tension created by the row.
Richard's comments in Cairo were interpreted in Israel as a response to a report by a group of NGOs which accused Orange of indirectly supporting settlement activity through its brand licensing agreement with Partner.
Partner operates in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which are illegal under international law and widely opposed by the international community.
Israel reacted furiously to Richard's comments, accusing him of bowing to a Palestinian-led boycott campaign.
But Richard insisted there was no political motivation, and that the decision was solely driven by Orange's brand strategy.
- 'Orange doesn't support boycott' -
Orange says Israel is the only country in the world where it has a trademark agreement with a company that is not a subsidiary.
Under the deal it cannot use the Orange name for its own activities there, calling its Tel Aviv facility Israel Lab, rather than Orange Lab as elsewhere.
At the weekend, he told AFP he "sincerely regrets" the furore and shortly afterwards, the Israeli government invited him to visit the Jewish state, saying he would be "a welcome visitor".
In a letter to Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely, Richard said: "Orange does not support any form of boycott, in Israel or anywhere else in the world."
The company, he wrote in the letter seen by AFP, "has a lasting presence in Israel" through its Orange Fab startup accelerator programme and its subsidiaries Orange Business Services and Internet television specialist Viaccess-Orca.
Netanyahu last week took the row to the level of government.
"I call on the French government to publicly renounce the miserable remarks and the miserable action of a company that is under its partial ownership," he said.
Partner, Israel's second largest mobile operator, had insisted the Orange chief travel to the country to explain himself.
Richard quickly accepted the invitation.
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