Israel’s questioning of U.S. activist raises concerns of government pressure on groups

The hourlong detention of a San Francisco Jewish community leader at Israel’s largest international airport stirred accusations Thursday of a government campaign against organizations opposed to policies in the occupied West Bank.

Jennifer Gorovitz had landed at Ben Gurion International Airport on Wednesday night after a 14-hour flight from San Francisco to participate in a board meeting of the New Israel Fund when an passport official began questioning her about her involvement with the group and her itinerary in Israel.

Gorovitz, a New Israel Fund vice president and a former chief executive at the Jewish Community Federation in San Francisco, said the official accused her of working for Palestinians, informed her she would have to wait to be interviewed by a security officer, and held on to her passport. Although Palestinian and Arab citizens of Israel are routinely questioned at the airport, Jewish travelers are seldom detained.

Gorovitz, whose organization funds a range of left-of-center Israeli groups, was released after two more rounds of questioning in a side office.

“He didn’t like who I worked for,’’ Gorovitz said in an interview Thursday, still visibly agitated by the incident. “It was clear because our organization disagrees with the policies of the government that hurts human rights organizations and hurts civil rights organizations. I was absolutely shocked.’’

Sabine Haddad, a spokeswoman for the Israeli Population and Immigration Authority, said the Interior Ministry apologized for any unpleasantness Gorovitz encountered. The questioning was routine and not politically motivated, she said.

Some observers said the detainment raised concerns because they said there have been other recent incidents in which the government seemed to object to human rights organizations supported by the fund that criticize Israeli actions in the West Bank.

Breaking the Silence, which collects and publishes testimonials from Israeli soldiers about their tours of duty in the Palestinian territories, was banned last month from lecturing students in public schools by the Education Ministry. On Tuesday, Culture Minister Miri Regev called for the Jerusalem municipality to shut down a gallery that had scheduled a lecture by the organization Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Foreign Ministry reprimanded the Belgian ambassador Thursday after Prime Minister Charles Michel was photographed with the founder of Breaking the Silence and the director of B’Tselem, a human rights watchdog, during an official visit this week.

“It looks like a witch hunt against people who think different than the government,’’ said Talia Sasson, president of the New Israel Fund. “They are treating us as if we are traitors.”

Some groups say pressure from the government is eroding Israel’s democracy. The government sees the groups as foreign-funded vehicles that sully Israel’s name abroad and manipulate domestic public discourse.

“What we are seeing now is a major effort to push back against the impact and influence of these organizations both inside Israel and outside of Israel. It’s a politically powerful message,’’ said Gerald Steinberg, president of NGO Monitor, a research institute critical of the New Israel Fund and Breaking the Silence. “As there’s more and more talk here of Israelis being dragged to the International Criminal Court, this is an issue that’s going to boil at a higher temperature.’’

Mitnick is a special correspondent.

@joshmitnick