Grand Mufti of Tunisia
Grand Mufti of TunisiaHezki Baruch

The Office of the Tunisian Grand Mufti, Othman Battikh, published a clarification following the publication of an interview between the mufti and Arutz Sheva.

The Mufti was criticized for the interview, which was given during the recent visit of a delegation of the Conference of European Rabbis to Tunisia last weekend.

A TV screen shot of the Arutz Sheva article was posted on the Tunisia تونس Tunisie Facebook page with the following caption: "Scandal! The Grand Mufti of the Republic Battikh on Israeli Arutz Sheva: Welcome the respected brothers and the Jewish clergy in their country Tunisia!!"

According to a report in the Arab media, the Mufti's office said in a statement that "the mufti did not pay attention to the logo of the Israeli channel during the conversation with him" and that "the journalist who conducted the interview with the Mufti presented himself as a Palestinian." According to another report, the Mufti claimed that Arutz Sheva reporter presented himself as a Palestinian by origin who was a media attaché of Yasser Arafat.

During the interview, the Mufti welcomed "our brothers from the Jewish community" and stated that "what unites is that we are humans."