As Israeli Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Ofir Akunis, lounged poolside in Los Angeles, California, on Sunday, he was surprised by a trespasser who ran toward him while harassing him.

In a video seemingly filmed by the protester, he can be heard screaming "Shame" in Hebrew. "You stole, you cheated!" the protester alleged, adding, "We won't leave you alone. We served as officers in the army. Three people in my family died in the War of Independence. Go cry to Bibi!" After yelling some more in both Hebrew and English, the man was escorted off the premises.

Akunis was due to speak on Tuesday at an event at BioscienceLA, a Los Angeles-area center for life science innovation, but canceled. “I have to apologize on behalf of the minister,” Hillel Newman, the Israeli consul general in Los Angeles, said from the podium. “In the end, he decided he’s not coming. He said that he felt that his presence here might cause more provocations of the people outside and the protesters, and he said he didn’t want to bring a bad feeling or bad vibes to anything associated with him and the state of Israel.”

Minister Akunis will participate in the Israel National News-Arutz Sheva Jerusalem Conference this Sunday in New York City.