Eitam says "behavior of Arab MKs brings closer the day they'll be removed from Knesset and Israel."
By JPOST.COM STAFF
MK Effi Eitam (NU/NRP) attacked MK Ahmed Tibi (UAL-Ta'al) on Thursday for his Wednesday stopover in Lebanon, saying he was "worried that Tibi is following in [former Balad MK Azmi] Bishara's footsteps."
Bishara fled the country after coming under investigation for suspected espionage and aiding Hizbullah during the Second Lebanon War in 2006. He was one of three Balad MKs who made controversial visits to Lebanon that year.
"While the IDF is on high alert in the North and its soldiers are preparing for terror attacks on the Lebanese border, Tibi chose to visit an enemy country, and to legitimize such possible actions," Eitam said.
Bishara, he said, also "started with seemingly innocent visits to enemy countries and ended with exposing secrets to Hizbullah."
"The continuous treacherous behavior of the Arab MKs brings closer the day that they will be removed from the Knesset and the state of Israel," he added.
MK Arye Eldad (NU/NRP), meanwhile, called for an investigation against Tibi, stating that "in Israel's point of view, anyone who disregards the law and visits an enemy country should himself be counted as an enemy of Israel."
According to Eldad, "the behavior patterns of the Arab MKs, who take the law into their own hands and decide who is an enemy country and who is not, is intolerable."
He added that the State Attorney's Office has prosecuted Arab MKs who visited enemy countries in the past.
Also criticizing Tibi, MK David Rotem (Israel Beiteinu) commented that "[Tibi] again tramples on Israeli law, and ignores his responsibility to be a loyal citizen of our country."
"This event only serves to support thoughts of proposing a law requiring that a formal statement of allegiance to the state be made in order to receive citizenship," said Rotem.