In a disturbing development Israel's Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Avigdor Liberman is trying to exclude a Palestinian party from Israel's Knesset
Liberman: Balad party supports Hamas, has no place in Knesset after Qatar trip
By LAHAV HARKOV
Balad should no longer be allowed in the Knesset and its MKs should be investigated for visiting Hamas sponsor country Qatar, right-wing MKs said Monday.
"Balad, the party founded by [former MK] Azmi Bishara, who was charged with espionage and fled Israel, clearly proves again to those who doubted it that they do not have a place in the Knesset," Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said. "While Israel is still in a serious campaign against Hamas terrorists, Balad MKs went to Qatar and showed support for [Hamas leader] Khaled Mashaal and his friends."
Liberman said Yisrael Beytenu will continue doing whatever it can to ensure "the fifth column representing terrorist organizations in the Knesset will find its place far from our house of representatives and behind bars."
Knesset Interior Committee chairwoman Miri Regev (Likud) wrote a letter to Weinstein asking that he investigate the MKs' visit to Qatar and ban their party.
Zahalka called the responses to his visit to Qatar "hysterical, racist and fascist" and said he rejects any attempt by Israel to "determine the meaning of our relations with our Arab brothers."
The Balad leader also said he is proud of Qatar for standing with the Palestinians in Gaza.
And that was their real crime.
Disrupting Palestinian unity was one of Netanyahu's main objectives in his ferocious assault on Gaza. In that Bibi failed miserably. So thee Israeli Right is looking for a way to attack Palestinians for standing together by using that as a pretext to get the Palestinians out of Israel's Knesset, and further disenfranchise Israeli Palestinians. Its a good bet that other members of Netanyahu's coalition will be receptive to Liberman's proposal given the animus shown critics of the government during the IDf's assault on Gaza, with the Knesset banning one Palestinian MK from speaking in the upcoming session. See: Israel's Knesset silences Palestinian MK who spoke out on murdered teens & against Gaza Assault
Liberman came very close to excluding a Palestinian party when Israel's Supreme Court struck down a similar measure passed by the Knesset following Israel's previous assault on Gaza in 2009. See: Israel bans Arab parties from running in upcoming elections