JERUSALEM Israel sent a beefed-up security force to its main international airport Thursday and asked foreign airlines to prevent blacklisted travelers from boarding Tel Aviv-bound flights, ahead of the anticipated arrival of hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists.

The activists plan to participate in an event dubbed “Welcome to Palestine,” which is designed to highlight conditions in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The activists, who say their mission is peaceful and designed to highlight conditions in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, have placed Israel in an awkward position: Authorities seem torn between their determination to keep out people they consider hostile agitators and a sense that they may be taking the bait en route to another public-relations debacle.

By late Thursday, eight people had been blocked from boarding one flight in Paris.

No activists had arrived at Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel by early Friday, and no disturbances were reported at the airport. Israeli officials said they expected most of the arrivals to begin midday Friday, and scaled back the security presence at the airport overnight.

Israel has experienced a series of deadly run-ins with pro-Palestinian activists in the past year, on the high seas and along the frontiers with Lebanon and Syria. These clashes have drawn international criticism, and Israel appeared wary of being drawn into a new confrontation.

It remained unclear how many activists would be allowed into Israel on their way to the West Bank. Officials said they are not trying to prevent the activists from visiting the Palestinian area but are concerned about people with records of trouble or those who plan to participate in violent acts.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would show restraint but stressed it was a “basic right” for a country to block suspected provocateurs from entering. “We have a restrained resolve to deal with provocations, to prevent disruptions of the public order,” he said during a trip to Bulgaria.

Israeli officials did not explain how they define provocateurs, and activists accused Israel of launching a smear campaign against them.

“This is a total circus by the Israeli authorities, who are painting us as criminals,” said French activist Olivia Zemor. She said her group, “Welcome to Palestine,” planned only nonviolent activities.

Roughly 600 activists are expected to arrive at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport for the weekend.

Some in Israel were critical of the government, saying officials created unnecessary hysteria.

“The State of Israel has lost its senses,” columnist Eitan Haber a former top official wrote in Thursday’s Yediot Ahronot newspaper. “We are playing right into the hands of a few bands of troublemakers who are successfully trying to make Israel look bad around the world.”

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