Lebanese man who crossed into Israel thinks he’s Jewish, father says

The father of a Lebanese man who was arrested Thursday after crossing illegally into Israel said his son is mentally ill and thinks he’s Jewish.

The son, Ali Mari, was arrested at a bus station in Kiryat Shmona, approximately three kilometers (two miles) from the Lebanese border, after police received calls reporting a suspicious-looking person. He was unarmed.

Mari was handed over to the Shin Bet security service for questioning following his arrest and was returned to Lebanon on the following day, according to local reports.

In an interview with Lebanese TV, the father said he received a phone call from by an Israeli security officer after his son’s arrest, the Ynet news site reported Saturday.

He recalled that the officer told him, “Your son is okay and safe.”

“My son’s mind is not right; he says he was originally Jewish,” the father said when asked if he was aware of Mari’s desire to go to Israel. “Can you imagine a normal person doing such a thing?”

Though it was initially unclear where Mari crossed the border, the military later said he entered Israel in the area of Margaliot, a small community that abuts the security fence.

It was not immediately clear how he entered into Israel or what he was doing in the country, although Channel 2 reported that he told investigators from the police and Shin Bet domestic security service that he wanted to live in Israel.

The IDF was checking its observation equipment on the border with Lebanon in order to figure out how he crossed the border fence without being identified, Ynet reported on Thursday.

In recent years, the IDF has invested considerable efforts in improving its defenses along the border and creating natural obstacles in order to prevent attacks by the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah.