Council’s Israeli boycott set to lose its teeth

The measure would enable the inner-western Sydney council to maintain a boycott of Israel without the cost to ratepayers.

The Australian understands that one option under consideration would see an alternate motion put forward that made no specific mention of the global boycott, divest and sanctions (BDS) movement, but instead aligned the council with an 1980 UN resolution critical of Israel.

Greens councillor Marika Kontellis conceded yesterday the proposed boycott -- which has drawn condemnation from all sides of politics -- had been "unpopular" among the community.

UN Resolution 465 calls upon states to withhold any assistance to Israel that could be used in connection to Jewish settlements in the occupied territories. This option could see the original motion, which called for a "boycott of all goods made in Israel and any sporting, academic, government or cultural exchanges" technically remain on the council books.

A report released by council officers last week showed the cost to ratepayers of the boycott would run to at least $3.7 million.

While acknowledging its unpopularity, Ms Kontellis defended the right of the 12-member council to voice its opinions on matters of principle. "But does being unpopular mean it's wrong it take a stance?" she said. "That's the question I'll ask myself."

Ms Kontellis was the only one of the five Greens councillors to speak publicly yesterday. Mayor Fiona Byrne declined to comment, as did councillor Max Phillips, who is a staffer to national leader Bob Brown, who has said the boycott is not federal policy.

The furore is widely believed to have allowed former Labor deputy premier Carmel Tebbutt to retain the state seat of Marrickville, which Ms Byrne had been expected to win.

With a council vote to rescind the boycott set for tomorrow night, Mr Phillips has said he would now vote against it which, combined with the four Labor and three independent councillors' votes, would be enough to kill the ban. Local Greens members met on Thursday night to discuss the strategy and another meeting is scheduled for tonight.

A second possibility discussed would be to make the boycott non-retrospective, which would also greatly reduce the costs of the policy. However, this option would likely fail as Mr Phillips has vowed to vote against any boycott.

Mr Phillips led a charge last week asking the NSW Greens to rescind their support for the BDS campaign, pending a review of the policy.

The council's four Labor members, who previously voted in favour of the boycott, are expected to vote to have it rescinded following a a push by independent councillor Victor Macri.

Labor councillor Emmanuel Tsardoulias was certain the boycott would be repealed. "The way the vote is going, it looks like it will be knocked off," he said. "They understand the impacts, they've read the report, and how bad it is."

Mr Macri, one of only two to vote against the original motion, said he had been encouraged by the amount of support for his stance. "This is the problem when you just jump on board things and are not looking at all aspects. You get egg on your face," he said.

"I've been getting a lot of emails from people saying stand firm against the boycott. They're furious. They don't pay their rates for this sought of stuff."