NATIONAL NEWS - In the wake of a pledge by model and TV personality Shashi Naidoo to learn about the “truth” of Israel’s occupation of Palestine, she has been denied entry into Israel.

The Israeli embassy said in a statement that it was entitled to deny entry to those seeking to “harm their country”.

Naidoo was meant to travel as a guest of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), a group that Israel says does not carry its interests at heart.

The model was in tears last month after admitting that she had defended Israel out of ignorance.

At a joint media briefing that BDS SA and the SA Council of Churches held with the model last month, it was confirmed that she would be embarking on a fact-finding trip to Palestine and Israel to learn more about the struggles faced by Palestinians in the occupied territories and elsewhere.

She was then expected to give a report-back on her findings.

According to a statement released by BDS SA, Israeli authorities “blocked her on the orders of Israel’s Interior Minister Aryeh Deri and the recommendation of Israel’s Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan”.

Read more on the Caxton publication, The Citizen.