Israel defends actions against US student in detention
Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan defended on Wednesday Israel's handling of the case of an American graduate student who has been held in detention for the past week at Ben-Gurion Airport over suspicions that she supports a Palestinian-led boycott campaign against the Jewish state.
Lara Alqasem, a 22-year-old American citizen with Palestinian grandparents, landed at Ben-Gurion Airport last week with a valid student visa. But she was barred from entering the country and ordered deported, based on suspicions that she supports the boycott movement.
Erdan says Israel will do "whatever we believe that is right" for the country's security and stressed Israel has the right to decide who enters its borders.
