Senior officials from the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Palestinian members of the Israeli Knesset have come under fire by groups advocating the boycott of Israel for their participation in the annual Herzliya conference, a key Israeli security and national policy meeting.

The two-day conference, which took place between June 14-16, was attended by many high-profile Israeli officials including President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, army officials and academics.

Ayman Odeh, head of the joint-Arab list in the Israeli Knesset, Ahmed Majdalani and Ghassan al-Shakaa, senior members of the PLO's executive committee and Elias al-Zananiri, the vice-chairman of the PLO Committee for Interaction with Israeli Society, were all present at the conference.

"How can they participate in a conference, where the main goal is to maintain and strategise the security of the occupying state?" asked Mahmoud Nawajaa, the General Coordinator for the BDS Palestinian National Committee.

Activists from several local and international boycott groups criticised the Palestinian officials' participation, describing it as a form of "normalisation" with Israel.

Read the Original Article