On March 16, Arab-Israeli writer Ayman Sikseck, a Muslim native of Jaffa, wrote a partly amused, partly perturbed Facebook post.

“I was invited for a seder meal [traditional Jewish Passover dinner] at the home of a close friend. For the first time, I also accepted the invitation,” he wrote. “But two days later, it turned out that because one of the other invitees, a relative of my friend, works for the General Security Service, he might not be allowed in the same room with me (!), and at this point my candidacy as a dinner guest was being re-examined. In other words, I am being vetted by the Shin Bet.”

The post drew several horrified reactions and quite a few humorous ones. “Watch out, they may accuse you of stealing the afikoman,” one commented. (During the traditional Passover dinner, a half-piece of matzo is hidden by the household for the children to find for a reward at the end of the meal.) Others invited him to their homes. They included Michael Gluzman, head of the Literature Department at Tel Aviv University, who wrote, “Ayman, you are always invited to our place. We don’t have any friends in the Shin Bet.”

In response to a query from Al-Monitor on this issue, the prime minister’s office, reacting on behalf of the General Security Service, said, “We are not familiar at all with the case you describe. In general, the claim that our guidelines ban Shin Bet employees from social interaction with a member of a minority group is utterly baseless.”