Arab-Israeli MKs from Likud and the Joint List violated COVID-19 regulations to take part in a feud-ending event held behind closed doors in the northern town of Kabub, Walla reported on Saturday.
The special event included hundreds of participants and was meant to end a blood feud which has already claimed the lives of two men. The public nature of such procedures can’t be avoided, since all parties involved must demonstrate that they are willing to make peace.
Among those who attended is Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Fateen Mulla, Joint List leader Ayman Odeh, Head of the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel Mohammad Barakeh and other public figures in the Arab community.
Mulla said that “to prevent bloodshed, I am willing to do everything.” Odeh used the Jewish term pikuach nefesh (saving human life), to explain why he was willing to violate the health regulations. The term is used by religious Jews to justify violations of Jewish law, such as driving on Shabbat to save a person who is having a heart attack, since saving a human life is of a higher value than religious observance.
“People are dying here, and not from COVID-19,” a person who attended the event said. “Where is the Hebrew speaking media when such things happen?”
The Arab-Israeli community had witnessed a spike of violence in the past year, allegedly because of the financial hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Police officers are present in the town every day, as the feud involves two known resident families.