Israel’s first Bedouin diplomat said Monday he was attacked by security at Jerusalem's central bus station, prompting the foreign ministry to call for an investigation.
Ishmael Khaldi, 49, whose diplomatic missions included London and San Francisco, said he was thrown to the ground on Thursday and choked by a security guard.
“He put his foot on my neck and head. I was on the floor for almost five minutes, as four guards held me cruelly and pressed on me, even as I moaned in agony and begged them to let me go and others around yelled at them to leave me be,” he added.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the incident began after the security guard requested from Khaldi to show his ID, according to rules and regulations, but apparently, he refused.
“Both were called into the police station to give their testimony of the incident,” Rosenfeld told Agence France Presse (AFP).
He said there is no procedure that allows an Israeli officer to carry out an arrest by placing a knee on the neck of a suspect.
The foreign ministry announced it was “appalled” by the incident and expected a thorough and comprehensive investigation.
Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi offered Khaldi his support and condemned the violence.
“I trust in law enforcement authorities to probe the case until its end,” tweeted Ashkenazi, adding there's no room for violence in Israeli society.
Arabs constitute around 20 percent of Israel's nine million population and include some 250,000 Bedouin, most of whom live in the southern Negev desert.
Leaders of the Arab minority say they are discriminated against by Israel compared to the majority Jewish citizens.
In August, Druze Israeli diplomat Reda Mansour said he had been humiliated at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport by a security guard.
Arab Israelis are the grandchildren of 160,000 Palestinian who remained in the territories after 1948.
