Israel Matzav

It's existential alright

Writing in the Washington Post, Fareed Zakaria sums up the rise of Yisrael Beiteinu:

Whether or not the new government includes him, Lieberman and his issues have moved to center stage. As fiercely as he denounces the Palestinian militants of Hamas and Hizbullah, his No. 1 target is Israel's Arab minority, which he has called a worse threat than Hamas. He has proposed the effective expulsion of several hundred thousand Arab citizens by unilaterally redesignating some northern Israeli towns as parts of the Palestinian West Bank. Another group of several hundred thousand could expect to be stripped of citizenship for failing to meet requirements such as loyalty oaths or mandatory military service (from which Israel's Arabs are currently exempt). The New Republic's Martin Peretz, a passionate Zionist and critic of the peace movement, calls Lieberman a "neo-fascist ... a certified gangster ... the Israeli equivalent of [Austria's] Jörg Haider." No liberal democracy I know of since World War II has disenfranchised or expelled its own citizens.

...

The antipathy is mutual. "The people who stayed here did not immigrate here, this is our country," declared Azmi Bishara, a former Arab member of the Knesset, after being charged with sedition for his expressions of support for Hizbullah. "That is why you cannot deal with us on issues of loyalty. This state came here and was enforced on the ruins of my nation. I accepted citizenship to be able to live here, and I will not do anything, security-wise, against the state. I am not going to conspire against the state, but you cannot ask me every day if I am loyal to the state. Citizenship demands from me to be loyal to the law, but not to the values or ideologies of the state. It is enough to be loyal to the law." For decades Israel's Arabs remained loyal to the law--and loyal to the country during its many wars with its neighbors. Now that loyalty is waning. Israeli Arabs--even those who are Christian, rather than Muslim--no longer vote for Israel's mainstream parties.

Anyone who is aware of what happened with Bishara here two years ago could not help but chuckle bitterly at reading his words as quoted by Zakaria. Bishara (pictured above) no longer lives in Israel. In April 2007, Bishara walked into the Israeli embassy in Cairo and resigned as a member of the Knesset. Three days later, it was confirmed that Bishara had left the country because he was about to be charged with treason for having aided Hezbullah during the Second Lebanon War. It wasn't just that he expressed support for Hezbullah - he was helping them direct missiles! So when I see Bishara quoted as saying

I accepted citizenship to be able to live here, and I will not do anything, security-wise, against the state. I am not going to conspire against the state, but you cannot ask me every day if I am loyal to the state. Citizenship demands from me to be loyal to the law, but not to the values or ideologies of the state. It is enough to be loyal to the law.

I have to laugh bitterly and wonder whether the person who is quoting him really knows who he is or what he has done.

Bishara is just one of many Arab legislators who have undermined the State of Israel. Several Arab MK's traveled to Syria and Lebanon, where they declared their loyalty to Hamas and Hezbullah. As a result, Lieberman's party introduced a law in the Knesset last year that bans anyone who has visited an enemy state from running for the Knesset.

Lest I be accused of painting with too broad a brush, it is important to point out that the Druse population (except in the Golan) and certain Bedouin tribes are loyal to the State of Israel and even do IDF service. And yes, in all fairness, there is discrimination against them. But they get lost in the overwhelming sea of Muslim Arabs who see themselves as 'Palestinians.' What Israelis who voted for Lieberman were saying was, "if they see themselves as 'Palestinians,' let's let them become 'Palestinians.'" But the 'Israeli Arabs' don't want to become 'Palestinians.' In fact, a survey shows that 77% of them would rather live in Israel than anyplace else in the world. They have more rights in Israel than do Arabs in any Arab country in the world - particularly the women. If they'd rather live in Israel under the Israeli government, why do they keep professing loyalty to Hamas and Hezbullah?

Zakaria doesn't even address the question.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:42 PM