Morton Klein

JERUSALEM – An American Jewish leader was restricted by security guards from entering Israel's parliament after he questioned an Arab lawmaker over seemingly anti-Israel statements and practices, WND has learned.

The episode unfolded last week when Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, was in the Knesset waiting room with a group of other U.S. Jewish leaders who had come to parliament for pre-scheduled meetings with the country's top leadership, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The group was about to enter when Klein noticed Israeli Arab Knesset Member Ahmed Tibi was walking into the building.

According to Klein and several witnesses who spoke to WND, the ZOA president approached Tibi and questioned him about a conference the lawmaker attended in Doha last year in which he reportedly registered as a representative for the state of "Palestine" and not Israel. Tibi, who once was an official adviser to late PLO Leader Yasser Arafat, has multiple times represented himself as acting for "Palestine."

Klein also questioned Tibi about scores of purported anti-Israel statements the lawmaker made, such as recent public charges of Israeli apartheid against the Palestinians.

"I asked Tibi if he thinks it appropriate for a Knesset member to be blackening Israel's image by calling it an apartheid state and going around as a paid Knesset member and yet representing himself as from the so-called state of Palestine, which doesn't exist," Klein said.

Both Klein and multiple witnesses related how after the questions were asked, Tibi started screaming "at the top of his lungs" for security to expel Klein, accusing the Jewish leader of physically and then verbally assaulting him.

More than one witness told WND Tibi was "acting like a maniac."

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When the guards entered, Tibi immediately retracted his claim of physical assault, but maintained that Klein had verbally assaulted him – a charge denied by the many witnesses in the room at the time.

In line with instructions from the Knesset speaker, Likud member Reuven Rivlin, security guards were instructed not to allow entry to Klein until he formally apologized to Tibi, an action Klein refused to take.

"Why should I apologize for asking Tibi a legitimate question?" Klein asked. "And why should Rivlin side with Tibi? Rivlin has been a friend of mine for years and agrees with my views, plus I didn't do anything wrong."

Klein called up Knesset Members Aryeh Eldad of the National Union Party and Danny Danon of Likud, both of whom invited Klein into the building as their personal guests, but the Jewish leader was still denied entry.

After waiting in the lobby for over two hours, Klein was finally allowed in when Tibi accepted an in-person statement from the ZOA president that he did not mean to offend Tibi with his questions. That statement was brokered by a lawmaker from the opposition Kadima party. At the time, according to witnesses, Tibi refused to shake Klein's hand.

The drama did not end there, however.

About 30 minutes after the truce, Klein and other Jewish leaders ran into Tibi again in a large open section of the Knesset. They told WND that they overheard Tibi speaking on his cell phone in English about how Klein was only allowed into the building after he officially apologized to Tibi.

At that point, Klein's deputy, Steve Goldberg, approached Tibi to point out to the lawmaker that he was inaccurately describing the fiasco.

"That's a total lie. Stop telling people that lie. Klein never apologized," Goldberg said, according to witnesses.

Tibi then started screaming at Goldberg, prompting about 12 security guards to rush into the room. Tibi claimed to the guards that Klein and Goldberg had both verbally assaulted him. He demanded the pair be barred from the Knesset immediately.

Klein and others in the room, however, pointed out that Goldberg acted alone and that Tibi was not verbally assaulted. Tibi then relented and instructed the guards to only boot Goldberg, who was promptly escorted from the building and was not allowed back in that day.

In an interview with WND yesterday, Tibi claimed that when Klein first approached him in the Knesset lobby, the Jewish leader had told Tibi he should not be allowed in the Knesset building because of his alleged anti-Israel views.

That claim was strongly denied by Klein and other witnesses who were interviewed.

Tibi also told WND that Klein was a "rightist" who is "anti-Arab."

"He has a problem with me because my first name is Ahmed," Tibi said.

Klein retorted, "No, I have a problem with him because he is anti-Israel and also a Knesset member."

Knesset Member Danon said he filed a formal complaint with the Knesset speaker about the episode.

"Tibi is not running the Knesset," Danon told WND. "There is no reason a Jewish leader who spends his life defending Israel abroad should have to go through this travesty in the Knesset building. I am proud Klein did not apologize, and I commend him for the questions he asked Tibi."

 

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