Burger King Withdraws From West Bank Site

Burger King Corp., facing a worldwide boycott by Arab and Muslim groups, said Thursday that it is pulling out of a fast-food outlet in an Israeli settlement in the disputed West Bank.

An executive of Burger King, a unit of British food and beverage group Diageo, said the Miami-based company had been misled about the site of the outlet owned by a franchisee and would not have allowed it to open in the Maale Adumim neighborhood.

Maale Adumim, which was seized by Israel in the 1967 Middle East War, is now claimed by Israel as part of Jerusalem.

Operated by Rikamor Ltd., which owns 46 other Burger King outlets in Israel, the Maale Adumim Burger King site is part of a fast-food court and was popular with Jewish settlers.

Ten groups, including American Muslims for Jerusalem, had declared support for a boycott over the West Bank outlet against Burger King, which has 130 restaurants in the Middle East.