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Press TV has conducted an interview with Jamal Wakim, from the Lebanese International University from Beirut, about Norway’s Young Men and Women’s Christian Association (YMCA-YWCA) joining the growing international boycott campaign against Israel.

- Jamal Wakim, we are looking at the Israel Apartheid Week which kicked off last week. It has gained traction over the years since its inception back in 2005 and this part of it has to deal with the BDS [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions] movement and that has caused worries within Israel. Do you think that Israel is going to be able to beat this BDS movement?

- I believe that this movement is trying to pressure hard liners and Israel to accept a peace deal with the Palestinians and this runs to the favor of the current US administration under Obama which is trying to settle the Arab-Israeli struggle, to the favor of Israel of course.

But the United States is aware of the fact that its influence in the world, its power is declining and it needs to strike a deal between Israel and the Palestinians in order to normalize the situation of Israel in the Middle East because the United States believes that it can no longer support Israel the way it did in the past fifty years.

- Well you talked about the so-called peace process and some are looking at the fact that Israel seems to be isolated, one aspect of this being shown on the success of the BDS movement. But if Israel were not to agree upon a peace process, these current developments seem to indicate that it would be Israel’s fault.

So do you think that Israel is cornered at this point because signs coming from Israel indicate that they are going to keep resisting US pressure?

- Well I believe that Benjamin Netanyahu, the current Prime Minister of Israel is reluctant to strike a deal with the Palestinians that sacrifices, as he puts it, the land of Israel.

And he is counting on the end of Obama’s term so that maybe a hard liner will take over the presidency in the United States and he will be more supportive of the radical wing in Israel towards the Palestinians.

I believe that the chances of a peace deal between the Palestinians and the Israelis are very weak and Netanyahu is counting on winning time to his favor in order to escape from and evade American pressures, mainly Obama pressures on him to strike a deal with the Palestinians.