MK Ahmed Tibi
MK Ahmed TibiFlash 90

MK Ahmed Tibi (Ra’am-Ta’al) tried to arrange a diplomatic trip to India as a representative of the Palestinian Authority but was stopped by the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Channel 2 News reported on Thursday.

According to the report, Tibi planned to go to India and meet with the country’s Vice President and Foreign Minister. However, instead of planning his trip with the Israeli Foreign Ministry as is customary, he tried to arrange the trip through the PA’s consulate in New Delhi.

When the Indian government learned about Tibi’s preparations, reported Channel 2, it turned to the Israeli Foreign Ministry and asked how come an Israeli Knesset member is not trying to arrange a trip via the Israeli embassy.

The Foreign Ministry thanked the government of India and asked that Tibi’s request not be approved.

Tibi told Channel 2 News in response to the report, “I was invited as part of a day of solidarity with the Palestinian people. I did not ask and I will never request any meetings through representatives of [Foreign Minister] Avigdor Lieberman - anywhere on this planet."

This would not have been the first time that Tibi, an elected member of Israel’s parliament, has gone on trips as a representative of the Palestinian Authority.

Last year, Tibi, who served as an advisor to former PA Chairman Yasser Arafat, was in New York to support the PA delegation to the United Nations in its successful bid to be recognized as a non-member observer state.

A year earlier, Tibi joined the PA’s delegation to the UN for its first unilateral statehood bid.

Tibi, like many Arab MKs, has a history of inappropriate behavior and he is notorious for his anti-Israel statements and actions.

He has in the past praised the Palestinian Authority’s “martyrs” at a ceremony held on the occasion of "Palestinian Martyrs Day” and sponsored by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

He has also called for a boycott of products manufactured in Judea, Samaria, and east Jerusalem, saying that “settlements are a cancer spreading all over Palestinian land, and cancer should be treated and eradicated. I am talking about a peaceful and non-violent way by not buying or selling or dealing in these products from these settlements.”