Villaraigosa said the intent of the trip was to enhance anti-terrorism efforts at Los Angeles International Airport and the harbor and defended the cost of the delegation he led while the city faces a possible $300-million budget shortfall.

Critics called the trip a highly expensive public relations junket.

During the public comment session of the meeting, the 16 citizens stood up one-by-one to protest agreements the council had made with a foreign power without allowing bids to be made by American security services.

While council members ignored the testimonies, talked on cell phones or walked out of the chamber, the first testimony was offered by Greta Berlin:

"Please put down your phones," she admonished council members, "and listen to what I have to say. I have witnessed what Israel does at its airport in the name of security.

"My 80-year-old Holocaust survivor friend was subjected to a cavity body search and I was detained and interrogated for eight hours because both of us advocate justice for the Palestinians. Now our mayor wants Israeli security to turn LAX into this apartheid system where Jews, dignitaries and the rich stand in one line and everyone else in the other line?"

Stating that Villaraigosa’s trip was planned to capture Jewish votes in the November election, Lillian Laskin stated there are plenty of security consultants in the U.S. to secure our ports without seeking advice from Israel, which has a murky reputation on human rights and labor relations.

Human rights attorney Patricia Barry dropped a bombshell on the meeting, saying that federal agents probably will preempt agreements Villaraigosa and other council members signed.

"Section 370 of the City Charter stipulates the principle of competition and that all contracts exceeding $1,000 must have bids from vendors," Barry said.

"The mayor excluded this and arbitrarily gave the security contract for our port and LAX without asking for bids from local vendors. I am willing to start a taxpayers’ lawsuit if Los Angeles residents will contact me."

Under the agreement, Israel will send three security experts from Ben-Gurion International Airport to Los Angeles for regular inspections as $1,000-per-day consultants.

At the close of the proceedings, Zine insisted on addressing the dissenters before they left the chambers.

"I paid for some of my trip and it wasn’t a junket," averred Zine who described himself as an ex-cop of Lebanese Christian heritage. "We did go to Bethlehem and we did talk to some Arabs."

The mayor’s office has not released the estimated cost of the trip.

InFocus News Staff contributed to this report.