MK Danon asks Central Elections C'tee to bar Zoabi

Likud MK requests Balad's Haneen Zoabi to be barred from running for next Knesset; Zoabi: Likud MK is racist, shallow.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Danny Danon speaks at anti-infiltrator rally 370 (photo credit: Courtesy Spokesperson of Danny Danon)
Danny Danon speaks at anti-infiltrator rally 370
(photo credit: Courtesy Spokesperson of Danny Danon)
MK Danny Danon (Likud) asked the Central Elections Committee to bar MK Haneen Zoabi (Balad) from running for the next Knesset, as sources close to the Prime Minister’s Office continued to say an election may be near.
In a letter sent to the Central Elections Committee on Wednesday, Danon emphasized Zoabi’s participation in the 2010 Gaza flotilla, which led to her losing some of her privileges as an MK.
“This is a terrorist disguised as an MK. In June 2010, she participated in the terrorist Marmara flotilla, in April 2011, she called for a violent battle like the Intifada and in February 2012, she called for terror against Jewish Israeli citizens,” Danon wrote, adding that she also celebrated with terrorists released in the Schalit deal.
“Zoabi used her immunity to support terrorists that tried to kill IDF soldiers,” he said.
“An MK like that does not have a place in the Knesset, and belongs in prison.”
According to the Likud MK, the time has come to “end the absurdity” and prevent Zoabi from running for the 19th Knesset. Danon has made similar statements in the past, including in May, when the government proposed and then withdrew a bill to dissolve the Knesset.
Zoabi responded that Danon is overly focused on her, pointing to his complaints to the Knesset Committee, speeches in the plenum and a bill targeting the Balad MK.
“He does not have a respectful place in Israeli politics or serious political activities other than trying to show he is to the left of [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu,” she said.
“In a racist arena, people think that racism alone can replace serious politics. There is too much shallowness and empty, stupid politics.”
Zoabi added that neither Danon nor “all the other Danons in the Knesset” can decide who will represent the Arab public, who will not allow the government, Knesset or courts to treat them like second-class citizens. By not allowing her to run for Knesset, they are taking away Arabs’ right to faithful representation, she said.
“No one, not even the strong and violent government, can undermine our right to full equality,” she said. “[Israeli-Arabs] being elected to the Knesset does not make Israel a democratic country.”
The problem, she concluded, is not Zoabi, it is racism, and the Balad MK said she would continue representing the Palestinians in their homeland.