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European Parliament delegation denied entry to Knesset

July 22, 2015 at 3:03 pm

A delegation from the European Parliament, including ambassadors from the European Union, has not been allowed to enter the Knesset to meet with members of the Joint Arab List during a visit to Israel, Arab48 reported.

According to the news site, Knesset Speaker Yuli-Yoel Edelstein conditioned that the meeting must be attended by a Knesset political adviser, which was refused by the Joint Arab MKs.

“MKs Yousef Jabareen and Aida Touma-Suleiman were forced to hold the meeting with members of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights outside of the Knesset building after Knesset Speaker demanded the presence of a Knesset political adviser,” the party wrote in a statement.

MK Jabareen slammed the conditions as “unacceptable and a breach of freedom of parliamentary work”.

“It is unacceptable to prevent Members of Knesset from holding a meeting in their own faction room without the presence of a Knesset representative. We are talking about sensitive political discussions, and understandably discussions like these should allow for the absence of unwanted representatives” he said.

A Knesset spokesman claimed the meeting breached protocol and thus the delegation was barred from entry.