Prominent Jewish-American commentator and Israel critic Peter Beinart said Monday that he was detained by Israeli airport authorities and interrogated about his political views before he was allowed to enter the country on Sunday.
Beinart, a contributor to The Atlantic, CNN, and liberal Jewish daily The Forward as well as liberal Israeli daily Haaretz, considers himself a supporter of Israel, but has been an outspoken critic of the Israeli government's policies toward Palestinians and Israel's close alliance with U.S. President Donald Trump.
He has warned of a growing rift between Israel and the predominantly liberal Jewish-American community, and has said that Israel must establish a Palestinian state to ensure its survival as a Jewish-majority democracy.
In an article in The Forward, Beinart said he was pulled aside when he arrived with his family on Sunday to attend a relative's bat mitzvah.
Beinart said he was sent to a small room where a security official asked him about the reasons for his visit.
"Then the political questions began. Was I involved in any organization that could provoke violence in Israel? I said no. Was I involved in any organization that threatens Israel democracy? I said no, that I support Israeli organizations that employ non-violence to defend Israeli democracy," he wrote.
Beinart said he was then asked about his participation in a West Bank protest two years ago. He said the interview ended after he said he would not be joining any protests on his current visit.
He was released after calling a well-known Israeli human rights lawyer. In all, he said he was held for about an hour.
Beinart called his experience "trivial" when compared to the experiences of others, particularly Palestinians and Palestinian-Americans who travel through Israel's main international airport.
"I'm a white American Jewish journalist with influential Israeli and American Jewish friends. My situation wasn't remotely comparable to the black, brown and non-Jewish visitor with whom I shared the holding room. I may not have felt protected by Israeli law but I felt entirely protected by my national, religious and class privilege," he wrote.
The Prime Minister's Office said that upon learning of Beinart's detention, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately asked Israeli security officials what had happened and was told it was an "administrative mistake."
"Israel is an open society which welcomes all, critics and supporters alike," the office said. "Israel is the only country in the Middle East where people voice their opinions freely and robustly."
The Shin Bet security agency apologized for causing any anguish and said it was investigating the incident.
Beinart responded on Twitter by saying, "Benjamin Netanyahu has half-apologized for my detention yesterday at Ben-Gurion [International] Airport. I'll accept when he apologizes to all the Palestinians and Palestinian-Americans who, every day, endure far worse."
According to the Times of Israel, Jewish Agency chairman and former opposition leader Isaac Herzog said, "Unfortunately, the damage to Israel's reputation and the unnecessary uproar among the Jews of the Diaspora were caused for nothing."
Meretz MK Zehava Galon called the incident "an insane story" and asked, "How idiotic do you need to be to think Peter Beinart poses any sort of danger to the State of Israel?"
Left-wing Jewish lobby group J Street's Israel director Yael Patir said that if Israel's government "wants any ties with the vast majority of U.S. Jewry, as well as the preservation of Israeli democracy, the political interrogations must stop immediately."
Daniel Sokatch, the CEO of the New Israel Fund, which supports Israeli left-wing organizations, called the questioning of activists "morally unacceptable and anti-democratic."
"The Netanyahu government has shown once again that it is now a matter of policy to use border crossings as interrogation chambers. The government is demonstrating that the test for entering the country is a political one: Either you agree with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ultra-right-wing coalition or you're subject to questioning, intimidation, or refusal," he said.
