Arab MKs: Outlaw Israel Beiteinu

Lieberman: Israeli Arabs are "more dangerous" than Hamas's Mashaal or Hizbullah's Nasrallah.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
tibi 224.88 (photo credit: Ori Porat)
tibi 224.88
(photo credit: Ori Porat)
Slighted Arab MKs charged that Israel Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman should be dismissed from politics for his statements during a speech Wednesday announcing his party's withdrawal from the coalition. MKs from all three Arab parties called on Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz to outlaw the Israel Beiteinu Party, in light of comments made by Lieberman likening Arab MKs to hostile Arab leaders. MKs Muhammad Barakei (Hadash) and Ahmed Tibi (United Arab List) "are more dangerous than [Hamas leader Khaled] Mashaal and [Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan] Nasrallah," said Lieberman during a speech explaining his resignation from the coalition. "Lieberman's remarks today are an incitement to murder. The man suffers from racial AIDS and should be cured outside politics," said Barakei. Tibi said that he felt nothing but contempt for Lieberman, and that Israel Beiteinu must removed from the Knesset to prove to Israelis that their leadership would not "accept racist rhetoric." "The international community must stop treating this terrible man with forgiveness and prevent his entry into democratic states," said Tibi. MKs from the left-wing Meretz Party joined the Arab MKs in voicing their joy at Lieberman's withdrawal from the coalition. Meretz chairman Yossi Beilin said, "Lieberman"s harsh remarks on the diplomatic front, and his statements about Israel"s Arabs are proof that those who thought that a peace process could be led with such a party in the coalition made a grave mistake," he said. Beilin added that Israel Beiteinu"s withdrawal from the coalition should lead to "real progress" in the peace process." "Good riddance, he"s left," said MK Taleb a-Sanaa, (United Arab List). "There was no room in the government for a racist party... which incited dispute and bloodshed." Lieberman has repeatedly clashed with members of the Arab factions for his suggestion that Israeli Arabs do not belong in the state on Israel. He addressed this issue on Wednesday, telling reporters that the principle of all peace talks should be "an exchange of territory and population." A withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders would only lead Israeli Arabs to request both Palestinian citizenship and social security payments from the state of Israel, said Lieberman. "They don't hide this - they say quite clearly that they will demand autonomy in the Galilee and the Negev, and will never recognize Israel as a Jewish state," said Lieberman. "We can't accept the asymmetry of a Palestinian state without a single Jew, and Israel becoming a binational state with more than 20 percent minorities," he continued. "Our problem is not with the Palestinians, it is with Israeli Arabs," Lieberman concluded.