Tel Aviv, February 15 (RHC)-- A report says Israeli spies have been ordered to try to link supporters of an economic boycott against Tel Aviv to terrorists and enemy states.

Israel has convened a ministerial meeting to discuss how to respond to the growing number of foreign companies refusing to do business with Israeli entities operating in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, according to a report in The Times.

The United Nations regards the Israeli settlements as illegal because the territories were captured in the war and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid any constructions on the occupied lands.

The meeting saw Israeli Minister for Intelligence and Strategy, Yuval Steinitz tabling a plan for media propaganda against organizations advocating boycotts.

Earlier in the month, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pointed to "an increasing de-legitimization" campaign building up against Israel internationally and "talk of boycotts" if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict did not end.

Last month, a major Dutch pension fund, PGGM, which is one of the world's largest pension asset managers, said it would divest from five Israeli banks it says are involved in financing construction of Israeli illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian lands.

The American Studies Association (ASA), an alliance of US professors, has also said it would refuse formal collaborations with Israeli academic institutions or with scholars who represent those institutions or the Israeli government until “Israel ceases to violate human rights and international law.”