Three US congressmen urge Israel to release detained Palestinian journalist Abed Abu Shehadeh

Three newly elected Jewish Democratic US congressmen—Brad Lander, Daniel Biss, and Scott Wiener—sent a letter to Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter calling for the immediate release of Palestinian journalist Abed Abu Shehadeh, an Israeli citizen arrested on suspicion of contact with a foreign agent.

Three newly elected Jewish Democratic members of the U.S. Congress — Brad Lander of New York, Daniel Biss of Illinois, and Scott Wiener of California — called on Israel on Friday to immediately release Palestinian journalist and political analyst Abed Abu Shehadeh, an Israeli citizen arrested earlier this week at his home in Jaffa on suspicion of contact with a foreign agent. In a joint letter to Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter, the lawmakers expressed concern that the detention is connected to an interview Abu Shehadeh conducted with former Israeli lawmaker Azmi Bishara. According to the letter, approximately 15 masked Israeli police and Shin Bet officers entered Abu Shehadeh's home on election night, searched the premises, and took him into custody. A court extended his detention until Sunday based on classified evidence not shared with his attorneys. The lawmakers cited reports from Abu Shehadeh's lawyers that investigators questioned him about a podcast interview with Bishara, whom he had previously interviewed without incident. The letter warns that detaining a reporter for conducting an interview undermines democratic values and press freedom, and urges Israel to release him or disclose the evidence and ensure due process.