The High Court of Justice criticized Interior Minister Eli Yishai Sunday for attempting to prevent Palestinian writer Ala Hlehel from traveling to Lebanon inorder to receive a literature prize.
Yishai explained in April that he had prohibited Hlehel from leaving Israel due to security concerns. But Justices Esther Hayut, Hanan Meltzer, and Isaac Amit said there was no specific security warning regarding the author's trip to Lebanon, explaining why they had overturned the decision and permitted him to travel.
They determined that the state could present no actual proof for its claims, and that Yishai should have examined the situation assessments handed to him by security forces more closely before prohibiting Hlehel from traveling.
The judges added that the author had requested the visit to Beirut in order to receive a prestigious award from a number of international organizations, a rare and joyous circumstance which in their opinion merits further consideration of his case.
Participating in literary events is part of an author's profession, they added, and important to his literary career as they provide him with an opportunity to rub shoulders with writers and other artists.
Justice Hayut wrote that "the writer was prevented from participating in a convention because the state hosting it, Lebanon, made it difficult for him to travel there as an Israeli citizen carrying an Israeli passport."