JERUSALEM: An Israeli diplomat from the country’s Druze minority has accused security agents at Tel Aviv airport of racially profiling and humiliating him and his family as they traveled on official business.
Israel’s ambassador to Panama, Reda Mansour, who hails from the mainly Druze town of Isfiya near Haifa, was flying to the Central American country on Saturday when he was stopped and interrogated by security officers at Ben Gurion airport.
“When they learned that we came from Isfiya, they asked to see our passports,” Mansour wrote on Facebook after the incident.
Israeli Arabs and Druze often denounce harsh treatment by the airport’s security staff, but it is rare for a senior official to speak out on the subject. The veteran diplomat noted his village is home to a memorial for Druze soldiers killed fighting under the Israeli flag.
“I advise that you take your security guards and those in charge of their training to visit this cemetery and teach them about self-sacrifice and respect,” he added.
Unlike other Arab citizens of Israel who may volunteer to serve, the Druze are subject to compulsory service in the military or police, alongside Jewish Israelis.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday tweeted his “deep appreciation for the work of Ambassador Mansour who represents Israel in Panama.”
Without mentioning the incident, Netanyahu praised Israel’s Druze community as “dear to our hearts.”
Thousands from the country’s 130,000-strong Druze community took to the streets last August to denounced a law declaring Israel the nation state of the Jewish people, arguing it renders them second-class citizens. Netanyahu strongly backed the law.
As responses on social media poured in, many of them hostile to Mansour, Israel’s Airports Authority on Sunday said the security guard “did his job.”
“Security checks at Ben Gurion Airport are carried out regardless of religion, race or gender,” it said in a statement.
Israeli Druze diplomat says racially profiled at airport
Israeli Druze diplomat says racially profiled at airport
- Unlike other Arab citizens of Israel who may volunteer to serve, the Druze are subject to compulsory service in the military or police, alongside Jewish Israelis
UN force in Lebanon says peacekeeper wounded by Israeli fire
- UNIFIL reiterated its call to the Israeli army to “cease aggressive behavior and attacks on or near peacekeepers working for peace and stability along the Blue Line”
BEIRUT, Lebanon: The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said an Israeli attack near their position in the country’s south wounded a peacekeeper on Friday, reiterating a call for Israel to “cease aggressive behavior.”
It is the latest incident reported by the peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, where UNIFIL acts as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon and has been working with Lebanon’s army to support a year-old truce between Israel and militant group Hezbollah.
“This morning, heavy machine gunfire from Israel Defense Forces (IDF) positions south of the Blue Line impacted close to a UNIFIL patrol inspecting a roadblock in the village of Bastarra. The gunfire followed a grenade explosion nearby,” UNIFIL said in a statement.
The force added that “the sound of the gunfire and the explosion left one peacekeeper slightly injured with ear concussion.”
Also on Friday, UNIFIL said “another patrol carrying out a routine operational task also reported machine gunfire from the Israeli side in immediate proximity to their position” in Kfarshuba, south Lebanon.
The peacekeeping force said it had informed the Israel army of its activities in these areas.
Earlier this month, UNIFIL said Israeli forces fired on its peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.
Last month it said Israeli soldiers shot at its troops in the south, while Israel’s military said it mistook blue helmets for “suspects” and fired warning shots.
In October, UNIFIL said one of its members was wounded by an Israeli grenade dropped near a UN position in the country’s south, the third incident of its kind in just over a month.
“Attacks on or near peacekeepers are serious violations of Security Council resolution 1701,” the peacekeeping force added, referring to the 2006 resolution that formed the basis of the November 2024 truce.
UNIFIL reiterated its call to the Israeli army to “cease aggressive behavior and attacks on or near peacekeepers working for peace and stability along the Blue Line.”
Israel carries out regular attacks on Lebanon despite the truce, usually saying it is targeting sites and operatives belonging to Hezbollah, which it accuses of rearming.
It has also kept troops in five south Lebanon areas it deems strategic.
