Sep 24, 2017

Israel's culture minister asked the attorney general Sunday to order the investigation of a prominent Arab Israeli filmmaker who spoke out against the Jewish state during a visit to Lebanon.

Mohammed Bakri, who is in Lebanon as part of the "Palestine Days" cultural festival, reportedly said over the weekend that "normalisation with the Zionist enemy is treason, and the debate surrounding it is disgraceful and totally unacceptable".

Bakri called his presence in Lebanon, which is officially in a state of war with Israel, "a victory over (Israel's) racist law

s", in remarks carried by the Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar.

On Sunday, Culture Minister Miri Regev asked state attorney Avichai Mandelblit to launch an investigation against Bakri upon his return over visiting an enemy country and "inciting" against the state.