Attorney General Menachem Mazuz declared Monday that he would not investigate Arab MK Ahmed Tibi's visit to Qatar earlier this year. MK Michael Ben-Ari requested an investigation after Tibi met with representatives of countries hostile to Israel.
Tibi attended the Arab League Summit in Doha, presenting himself as an official representative of “Palestine,” as he has done in previous years. While there he met with officials from Yemen and other countries to which Israelis are not allowed to travel.
While at the conference, Tibi accused Israel's government of posing a threat to Israeli Arabs and to the greater Arab world. He called on Arabs to study “Israeli plots” in order to learn how to deal with the new government.
Israeli politicians are allowed to visit Qatar, Mazuz said. In addition, Israelis may meet with hostile foreign leaders in the context of a multinational event. There is no legal basis for further investigation into the matter, he ruled.
Ben-Ari remains concerned over Tibi's behavior, however. Mazuz “covered for the spy Bishara, too,” he accused, referring to former Israeli-Arab MK Azmi Bishara, who fled the country after he was accused of assisting Hizbullah during the Second Lebanon War.
Ben-Ari called on the Shin Bet (General Security Services) and IDF intelligence to watch Tibi and other MKs who meet with hostile Arab and Muslim leaders.