Israeli briefly detained three Jerusalem-based candidates for Palestinian legislative elections on Saturday, deepening a dispute over whether banning Palestinian residents of east Jerusalem from voting in next month's polls could derail them.
The three candidates represent factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization who planned a press conference in a Jerusalem hotel to call for the need to press Israel into allowing political activities in the eastern part of the city, reported the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa.
In briefly detaining the candidates, Israel appears to be signaling it will not tolerate Palestinian political activity in east Jerusalem. It has not said whether it will or will not allow Palestinian residents of east Jerusalem to vote in the election.