It shows how far down the rabbit hole Israel has gone...everyone must WAKE THE HELL UP!! these people WILL NEVER ACKNOWLEGE ISRAEL...no matter what....! how much longer will this take another 50 years of armed conflict and bloodshed? i dont think that Israeli society,quite diemetrically opposed to Govt directive will remain cohesive in the long run....! G-D help us all.... shalom!

He never expected Arabs to sing Hatikva because the song specifically concerns the Jewish people. However, he understood the need for a Jewish state and therefore advocated Arab expulsion.

Any Arab Minister who serves in the Knesset and who openly shows his distaste for the nature of the Jewish state and its symbols should not be a minister in the Israeli Parliament. Israel has displayed tremendous weakness in allowing Arab members of parliament to openly fraternise with its enemies and pronounce statements that insult the nature of the state. This is appalling governence and shows Israel's democracy at its absolute worst! Israel's democracy has become so open that its lawmakers brains are simply falling out! These people ARE Israel's enemies nothing more or less, and anyone who does not enjoy the Jewish nature of the state of Israel, has 57 Islamic states in the world to choose from, 22 of them Islamic Arab!

This is incredible! I am a Panamanian citizen and if in my country a Minister doesnt want to sing the national anthem the population will feel bad since we love our country. I think Israel must name jewish ministers and not these muslim guys who are fanatics of the jihad... Wake up Israel and dont give out any more lands to these peace haters they have their own agenda and that is the destruction of the State of Israel... Of course they will never be able to defeat Israel since millions of Christians are ready to shed their blood for Israel...dont forget this you Moon Worshippers!!!!

I will happily sing Hatikvah and am proud of its words, but also completely agree with Majadele's very honest statements regarding the national anthem. As a Jew, I would not want to be asked to sing something which would compromise my own beliefs, and I doubt that anyone could rationally argue that point. As a Muslim who has already demonstrated his progressive attitude in terms of Israeli-Arab relations, not to mention taken a very serious step into what is deemed as 'enemy territory' by some of his peers (bringing potential danger to himself because of anti-Israel views), I think he has every right to bow out of having to sing Hatikvah. Majadele has also used some very strong language showing his continued support of the State of Israel, with some very carefully-chosen words -- he is very intentionally trying to keep harmony with his Israeli counterparts while still being able to express himself as a Muslim. It's a shame, really, that MKs Eldad and Orlev, as well as many Israeli and Arab leaders in the past have not made the effort to do the same. Such a small effort with thoughtful language would go a long way to the continuation of positive Israeli-Arab relations. Although very close to one another in many ways, Israelis and Arabs can be very different and should not all be expected to think the same way. I, for one, am happy to hear Majadele express himself while still taking it upon himself to make a difference for Arabs in Israel. Personally, I am not left-wing in Israeli politics, and living in the San Francisco Bay Area can be very frustrating with the bandwagon-jumping in regards to anti-Israel sentiment (particularly by Jews), but this is a prime example of a leader with potential who is taking real personal and political risks to move things forward in a positive way between Israelis and Arabs. If it turns out down the line that Majadele is not fit to be a leader, then he will hopefully be democratically voted out. For now, however, let the honorable MKs Eldad and Orlev do just that, be honorable and possibly even take a lesson from Majadele.

National anthems of Arab states include religious connotations as well, even more pointed than that in Hatikvah. The Saudi anthems speaks of glory for Muslims. Syria and Bahrain's anthems talk about Arabism and the latter talks about shariah as well. Non-Arab Muslim states like Brunei and Malaysia also have the word Allah etc in their anthems. Brunei's title for its anthem is Allah Peliharakan Sultan and many state anthems in Malaysia clearly includes the word Allah as well. Hatikvah only speaks of the nefesh yehudi. It doesn't even go on and on about Adonai or HaShem or Hamoshiach this and that. How would these Muslim states, Majadele and Tibi react if non-Muslim citizens refuse to sing their anthems.

I understand that but the English and American anthems have no relgious conntation other than the breif mention of the word g-d, (and there has been contreversy over this) but Hatikvah has many many connotations to judaism. I am lebanese and iranian but i have a jewish granmother so i have would have no issue myself singing the anthem, but you have to understand his perspective. I dont think badly of majadele at all.

All i know is only when Moses lead the Israel People go to the promised land (HATIKVA LAND) and Joshua finally conquered it, there is no one who called himself a Rightist, Leftist or even such fool of .... . All of Isrel is united to fulfill what is THE GOD command to them.

When singing is a crime and when your daughters and sisters becoming sexslave only, how can you understand about hope (HATIKVA) is.

Why we must blame Majadele to all things he done??he not standing alone, many Jews share the same arguments. Are u smarter than him? he knows Israel better than you...

Can we be honest for a second? I'm a likudnik but how can we expect Arab citizens to assimilate if we're not including them in the national anthem? We can't have it both ways. Be reasonable.