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| - The first Bedouin to become a diplomat for Israel said Monday he was attacked by security at Jerusalem's central bus station, prompting the foreign ministry to call for an investigation. Ishmael Khaldi, 49, whose diplomatic postings have included London and San Francisco, told army radio he was thrown to the ground on Thursday and choked by a security guard. "He grabbed me by the neck and put his foot on my neck and head," Khaldi said of the guard. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said "the incident began after the security guard requested from Khaldi to show his ID, according to rules and regulations; apparently he refused." "Both were called into the police station to give their testimony of the incident," Rosenfeld told AFP. The foreign ministry said it was "appalled" by the incident and expected a "thorough and comprehensive" investigation. Israel's top diplomat Gabi Ashkenazi spoke to Khaldi about the "violent incident" and expressed his support for him. "There's no room for violence in Israeli society," Ashkenazi tweeted on Monday. Arabs constitute around 20 percent of Israel's nine million-strong population and include some 250,000 Bedouin, most of whom live in the southern Negev desert. Leaders of the Arab minority say they are discriminated against by the state compared to the majority Jewish citizens. In August, Reda Mansour, a Druze Israeli diplomat, said he had been humiliated at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport by a security guard. mib-gl/jjm/rsc/sw
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