Two British parliament members who support anti-Israel policies were stopped at Ben Gurion Airport and denied entry to Israel on Saturday, sparking condemnation from London, Report informs via The Times of Israel.
The Labour Party MPs, Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang, were barred entry after questioning revealed that the purpose of their visit was “to document Israeli security forces and spread hateful rhetoric against Israel,” the Interior Ministry’s Population and Immigration Authority said in a statement.
Mohamed and Yang landed in Israel at 2:30 p.m. (GMT+3) on a flight from Luton, England, along with two of their aides.
While being interrogated, the two MPs — who both call for boycotting Israel — claimed to arrive as part of an official delegation on behalf of the UK parliament, but the claim was found to be false as no Israeli entity had verified the arrival of such a delegation, the population authority said.
Interior Minister Moshe Arbel, therefore, decided to deny entry to all four individuals “in accordance with the law and ordered their removal from Israel,” according to the statement.
Britain’s top diplomat condemned the decision.
“It is unacceptable, counterproductive and deeply concerning that two British MPs on a parliamentary delegation to Israel have been detained and refused entry by the Israeli authorities,” UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in a statement.
“I have made clear to my counterparts in the Israeli government that this is no way to treat British parliamentarians, and we have been in contact with both MPs tonight to offer our support,” Lammy continued.
“The UK government’s focus remains on securing a return to the ceasefire and negotiations to stop the bloodshed, free the hostages and end the conflict in Gaza,” he further added.
Since renewed military operations last month ended a short-lived truce in its war with Hamas, Israel has pushed to seize territory in the Gaza Strip in what it says is a strategy to force the Palestinian terrorists to free hostages still in captivity.
