Government officials on Tuesday condemned Palestinians who accosted a Saudi blogger visiting Jerusalem as a guest of the Jewish state.
Mohammed Saud is one of six reporters from the Arab world currently in Israel on an unprecedented visit following an invitation by the Foreign Ministry, meant to give them fresh viewpoint on the country.
French news agency AFP quoted Hassan Kabia, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, as saying the incident was "barbaric."
A video posted online showed mainly young Palestinians spitting, cursing and throwing plastic chairs at Saud as he walked through the Old City of Jerusalem.
The spitting and abuse continued as he toured the Al-Aqsa mosque complex.
"Go and pray with the Jews," one man shouted. "What are you doing here?"
Video: Reuters
The Al-Aqsa mosque compound is the third-holiest site in Islam after Mecca and Medina, in Saudi Arabia.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with the journalists on Tuesday and "they expressed their wish that the Arab publics would come to Israel and strengthen ties."
Ofir Gendelman, a spokesman for Netanyahu, described Saud as a "peace activist."
"When he came to pray at the #AlAqsaMosque, Palestinian thugs attacked him & spat on him, thus defiling this holy place," Gendelman tweeted Tuesday.
Hamas, the terrorist group that rules the Gaza Strip, condemned the visit.
"Hamas considers the visit of an Arab media delegation to the Israeli occupation a stab in the back of the Palestinian people and a dangerous sign of accelerating normalization with the Israeli occupation," it said in a statement.
The Israel Police said three Palestinian residents of east Jerusalem had been arrested over the incident. "More arrests were expected," a police statement said.
