MK Rotem: Probe Israeli intellectuals who visited Abbas

If influential figures are entering Ramallah, which is in Area A of the Palestinian Authority, they are publicly breaking the law.

By LAHAV HARKOV
David Rotem 311 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski )
David Rotem 311
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski )
MK David Rotem (Israel Beiteinu) asked Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein on Tuesday to investigate “intellectuals” who visited Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas earlier this week.
“The city Ramallah is in Area A of the PA, an area that the law specifies as forbidden for Israelis to enter without permission from the regional commander,” Rotem wrote, and asked if the group received such permission.
Rotem, who chairs the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, added: “This group of intellectuals, who see themselves as influencing the Israeli public, is publicly breaking the law, and can cause innocent citizens to think that this is permissible and legal.”
Among the members of the group that visited Abbas to express support for the Palestinian statehood bid in the UN later this month were author Yoram Kaniuk, Prof. Yehuda Bauer, artist Danny Caravan and Prof. Eliya Leibowitz.