State prevents former minister, activists from entering Ramallah

The security establishment recently prevented former Knesset member Yossi Beilin from traveling to Ramallah with a group of peace activists, Channel 10 reports.

According to the report, Beilin, who heads the Geneva Initiative, and other members of the initiative, applied for a Defense Ministry permit to enter the Palestinian city, but were denied.

They were planning to meet with Muhammad Al-Madani, the Palestinian Authority’s liaison to Israel who is also an aide to PA President Mahmoud Abbas. Reportedly, several days after Beilin submitted the request, Abbas himself expressed his desire to meet with the group.

At the time, the Defense Ministry claimed that “security considerations” were behind its decision to turn down their request. Now, however, a Defense Ministry official is quoted by Channel 10 as saying that the decision was spurred by suspicions that Al-Madani has been orchestrating “subversive” anti-Israel actions.

Those alleged actions, on whose details the Defense Ministry has refused to elaborate, were cited in a decision by the ministry last month to revoke Al-Madani’s permit to enter Israel.