Published: 13 August 2018
Last updated: 4 March 2024
Netanyahu says detention, questioning of Peter Beinart at airport a ‘mistake’ (Times of Israel)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday condemned the detention and questioning of prominent liberal US Jewish journalist Peter Beinart at Ben Gurion Airport, saying the step was an “administrative mistake.” Beinart said on Monday that he was detained at the airport and interrogated for an hour about his political views, before being allowed to enter Israel. The move follows several recent incidents of left-wing US Jews being questioned about their political views on entering Israel.
Israel's Shin Bet detains Peter Beinart at Ben-Gurion Airport over political activity (Haaretz)
Peter Beinart, a leading Jewish-American journalist, was detained for questioning at the Ben-Gurion International Airport while entering Israel, according to an article he published on Monday in The Forward. Beinart, a regular columnist for the publication who also writes for The Atlantic and appears often on CNN, came to Israel to participate in the batmitzvah of one of his nieces, and says that he went through a politically-centred interrogation upon landing in the country.
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Peter Beinart: I was detained at Ben Gurion airport because of my beliefs (Forward)
Like many Jewish parents, I try to create memorable Jewish experiences for my kids. Last weekend I can say, with some confidence, that I succeeded. The weekend started on Rhodes, the Mediterranean island on which my maternal grandmother’s family spent more than four centuries following their 15th century expulsion from Spain. We travelled there for my mother’s seventieth birthday.
Then, on Sunday, we flew to Israel for my niece’s Bat Mitzvah, where I was detained and interrogated about my political activities at Ben Gurion airport. We won’t soon forget that Jewish experience either.
Photo: Peter Beinart at the Haaretz Peace Conference in Tel Aviv, November 2015 (David Bachar)
