Israeli police briefly detain Washington Post bureau chief in Jerusalem

Washington Post Jerusalem bureau chief William Booth was detained by Border Police in Jerusalem.

He said he supports it, but the Palestinians do not accept Israel’s basic principles of recognizing Israel as a Jewish state and the future Palestinian state should be demilitarized, adding that the regional activity of Islamic radicals is also the reason that the two-state solution is not now feasible. “They presented their Government Press Office cards as identification, but these were waved away and they were asked for official identity documents”, it says.

Reports indicate that later at a checkpoint, a 17-year old Palestinian youth from a village near Bethlehem, ran at officers, bearing a knife, as they were checking cars entering Jerusalem, leading one officer to open fire and kill him.

An Israeli police officer has been caught on camera pushing a Palestinian man out of his wheelchair.

At least 162 Palestinians, the majority of whom Israel says were attackers, have been killed by Israeli fire.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the incident from Berlin during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, saying Israel is fully committed to freedom of the press.

Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the video was being investigated by the Ministry of Justice.

The statement read, “a correspondent for the Washington Post was unnecessarily detained by the Border Police – probably the result of an unfortunate misunderstanding”.

Booth’s detention comes at a time of tense words from the Israeli government aimed at the foreign press corps in Israel, and increased governmental scrutiny of Israeli journalists.

Last week a parliamentary subcommittee debated media coverage of the ongoing violence in Israel, and some members of parliament accused the press of being biased against Israel.

Mr Malki said that one-on-one talks with Israel were out of the question: “We will never go back and sit again in a direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations”.

Palestinian, Israeli and global rights groups have decried Israel for using excessive force and, in several cases, fatally shooting assailants who they contend could have been arrested. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will ask the police for the necessary clarifications”.