Tel aviv: Israeli police are reportedly monitoring foreign journalists who criticize Israel, with recommendations to bar them from entering the country, as reported by Israeli daily Haaretz.

According to Anadolu Agency, Haaretz has revealed that Israeli police conduct reviews of articles by foreign journalists and suggest denying entry to those critical of Israel. The report cites documents indicating that Italian journalist Alessandro Stefanelli was denied entry to Israel last July after a review by the Israeli police's Judea and Samaria District unit, responsible for nationalist crime.

Stefanelli, a freelance journalist with articles published in The Atlantic, Lib©ration, La Repubblica, and La Stampa, contacted the Israeli Embassy for clarification but received no explanation. He later attempted to enter Israel through the Allenby Bridge from Jordan, where he was detained and questioned by Israel's Population and Immigration Authority. After five hours, Stefanelli was informed that he was barred from entry and was sent back to Jordan.

The interrogation document provided to Stefanelli indicated that he had been transferred to security officials for a mandatory security investigation. The Population and Immigration Authority referenced a police document recommending his denial of entry due to accusations of portraying Israel as an 'apartheid' state in the West Bank.

The police document labeled Stefanelli as a journalist providing 'one-sided coverage of Israel,' including links and screenshots of his work. One link led to a photo essay on the lack of bomb shelters in unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev, while another reference was made to his alleged accusations of an 'apartheid regime' in the West Bank. A third link directed to a short article in Il Manifesto regarding environmental pollution and labor rights violations in the Nitzanei Shalom industrial zone, a topic previously covered by Israeli media.

Stefanelli has denied all allegations, expressing disbelief at the accusations. He argued that the photos he captured were similar to those any other photographer might take in the West Bank, questioning how such a document could be prepared in a democratic society.