Palestinians refused entry to Israel for joint memorial service

Minister says it's a security decision but peace organisations say Israeli governments have a history of trying to block the controversial joint service on Yom Hazikaron.

Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has rejected a request from bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families to allow Palestinians from the West Bank to attend the annual joint commemoration on Israel’s Memorial Day next week.

A statement from Gallant’s office said he was blocking the Palestinians from entering Israel for the Joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Ceremony on April 24 due to “the complex security situation” in the West Bank.

He also cited the planned closure of crossings with the West Bank and Gaza Strip over Memorial Day and Independence Day, a step Israel regularly takes during national and religious holidays.

Combatants for Peace and the Parents Circle-Families Forum, a grassroots organisation of bereaved families, are appealing the decision which has twice before been overturned by the Supreme Court.

They say the ban violates a 2019 ruling by the High Court of Justice that overturned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision then to deny permits to dozens of West Bank Palestinians planning to attend the event, citing security grounds. The court said that it was not legitimate to bar the attendees’ entry for security reasons.

Among the leaders of the event are Palestinian Bassam Aramim and Israeli Rami Elhanan who work together to build peace. Aramim's eight-year-old daugher Abir was killed by an Israeli soldier and Elhanan's 13-year-old daughter Smadar was killed by a suicide bomber.