Angry backlash after Tunisia pop-star snapped with Israeli soldier

A Tunisian singer and reality TV judge has defended himself after he sparked controversy in the Arab world for "mistakenly" posing for a picture with an Israeli soldier.

Saber Rebai, who was a judge on the Arabic version of reality TV singing contest "The Voice", has said he was unaware that the soldier was Israeli and rejected any acceptance of Israel.

The controversy broke out when the Israeli military body administering the occupied Palestinian territories, known as COGAT, posted a photograph on Twitter of a smiling Rebai posing beside an Arab-Israeli soldier, identified as Hadi Khatib.

"We are happy to support music concerts and welcome the arrival of artists. We are delighted to have coordinated the crossing of Saber Rebai through Allenby Bridge to Rawabi," the tweet, which was later deleted, read.

The photograph was taken as Rebai was crossing from Jordan into the occupied West Bank ahead of a gig in the Palestinian city of Rawabi.

The image was widely shared on social media in the Arab world with many harshly criticising the pop star for the photo op.

"Rebai knows just like any other Arab artist that the only official way to confront the Zionist project is in Gaza, where a besieged people also love music," Egyptian political analyst Wael Qandeel wrote in The New Arab.

	The tweet was later deleted [Twitter]

"Whoever really wants to support the Palestinian struggle should take the trouble to go to Gaza through Egypt, where there are no Israeli soldiers to take pictures with."

In a statement released on Facebook on Monday, Rebai said he did not know Khatib was in the Israeli army.

"He introduced himself in Arabic as Hadi and said he was responsible for facilitating the crossing... so there was no communication with any Israeli," the statement read.

"I have long been a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause and rejected normalisation with the Israeli enemy."

The Rawabi Foundation, which hosted the concert, has said in a statement that incident was a "deliberate Israeli trick" within its ongoing campaign to impose a "cultural blockade" on Palestine.

Many people in Arab and Muslim countries, even those that have formal relations with Israel such as Egypt and Jordan, reject any dealings with Israel, seeing it as acceptance of the treatment of the Palestinians.