Israel’s internal security service Shin Bet on Sunday summoned Sheikh Omar al-Barghouthi a senior Hamas official in Ramallah for interrogation and threatened to arrest him if he tried to stand for any upcoming elections to be held in the Palestinian arena.
Sheikh Barghouthi’s wife said that the Shin Bet had summoned her husband three times in the last few days.
She added that a Shin Bet officer at the Ofer detention center threatened to persecute and jail Sheikh Barghouthi if he ran as a candidate in the Palestinian elections.
During the questioning she said Sheikh Barghouthi replied to the officer that the Israeli occupation state would remain the enemy of the Palestinian people and that the elections need legitimacy strength and standing in the face of the occupation.
About two week ago Sheikh Barghouthi was released from an Israeli jail after he spent nine months in administrative detention.
Sheikh Barghouthi is a noted national figure who had spent a total of 30 years in different Israeli jails. He is the brother of prisoner Nael al-Barghouthi and father of a martyr and a prisoner and his family has always been exposed to Israeli persecution.
The Shin Bet has already arrested many Hamas lawmakers and officials in the West Bank and warned them of participating in any efforts aimed at achieving the national reconciliation.
