Interior Minister Moshe Arbel decided to bar European Parliament member Rima Hassan from entering the country on Monday, over her past comments encouraging boycotts of Israel, sanctions against the Jewish state, and even appearing to back terror groups’ armed struggle against it.
Arbel gave the order at the recommendation of the Diaspora Affairs Ministry, as Hassan was en route to Israel from Brussels to meet with Palestinian Authority officials, a member of a five-person European Union delegation.
The minister issued his statement before Hassan landed at Ben Gurion Airport, claiming that she had “consistently worked to promote boycotts against Israel and made numerous public statements and social media posts” hostile to the country.
“Hassan will be returned to Brussels,” he said.
Hassan has voiced support for armed struggle against Israel on social media, and has been summoned by French police for comments allegedly lauding terrorism.
The summons came at the heels of a complaint filed against her by the European Jewish Organization, a group of French Jewish lawyers dedicated to combatting antisemitism and anti-Israel boycott campaigns.
Elected to the European Parliament in 2024, Hassan was born to Palestinian parents in Syria’s Neirab refugee camp. She immigrated to France at the age of 9 and attained French citizenship as an adult.
The 32-year-old was trained as an attorney before entering parliamentary politics as part of Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s far-left France Unbowed party. She wrote her master’s thesis in international law on the question of apartheid, drawing legal comparisons between South Africa and Israel.
Hassan has repeatedly accused Israel of genocide for its Gaza offensive following the Hamas terror group’s October 7, 2023, onslaught in Israel. In 2024, she called for a boycott of French TV channel TF1, after it broadcast an interview with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and she participated in a protest outside the channel’s headquarters.
Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli welcomed the Interior Ministry’s move, saying that Israel was “not obligated to grant entry to any foreign official, including members of parliament, if they work to delegitimize or boycott the country.”
“Israel will not grant legitimacy to those who seek its harm. We will continue to act against antisemitic and anti-Israel elements trying to exploit our democracy,” he wrote on X.
Shortly after Hassan landed, an Interior Ministry official told The Times of Israel that the parliamentarian was awaiting a return flight. She indeed boarded such a plane and was back in Belgium by Monday evening.
The incident occurred as Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar was in Brussels for meetings with EU leaders and the 27 foreign ministers from EU states.