Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri declined on Monday to allow mayor of Parisian suburb of Gennevilliers, Patrice Leclerc, to enter Israel.
Leclerc, who was part of a delegation of mayors who planned to visit Fatah leader imprisoned in Israeli Jails Marwan Barghouti in November, arrived on Monday in the Allenby Crossing, between Jordan and Israel, with his wife.
The French mayor was prevented on the grounds he supports the anti-Israeli occupation BDS movement.
Deri said: "We will not allow anyone who acts against Israel to enter Israel in order to act and incite against the state.
“This is the authority given to me in the law and I will use it as long as I am required to do so and as long as there is a need to prevent the entry of people who will act to incite against Israel and call for its boycott.”
Minister of Strategic Affairs and Information Gilad Erdan said: “Those who are acting to boycott the State of Israel will not enter the country, let alone in the case of someone carrying an official position.”
Leclerc, a member of the French Communist party, pushed for Gennevilliers to recognise the State of Palestine –a symbolic recognition which was rescinded in March following pressure from the government of French President Emmanuel Macron.
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