"providing enemy with information at a time of war, visiting an enemy country and bringing money illegally into the state of Israel" if a Jew would have been found guilty of such charges in an Arab country - you know what his destiny would be...

and let's hope he stays away.

and now pack your stuff and move to arabia where u belong, u traitor.

if they want to be loyal citizens of the state, and not a fifth column, why would they vote for this man and his party, who don't represent "israeli arabs" but only "future palestinians with israeli id cards hoping and now actively working for the destruction of the state"

Wasel Taha and Jamal Zahalka also went to Syria during the recent war. So hopefully there will be more excellent news soon :-)

Wasel Taha and Jamal Zahalka also went to Syria during the recent war ! So hopefully there will be more excellent news regarding them too. Maybe Olmert and his cronies will be ousted in ignominy too - wouldn't that be wonderful ?!

I would rather he were in my parliament than out of it

one down, a few more to go! all the arab mk should be fired and stripped of their immnity ,and charged with treason and stupiditiy!

Don't worry Bishara ,modern day Israel under Kadima goes out of her way to assist her enemies. Look at how the investigation of Islamic brotherhood leader Saleh has led to NOTHING. Israel is fearful and afraid ,led by a coward whose only rule is to obey his emperor Bush. They only go after Jewish children and settlers whom they throw out of their homes and arrest and imprison. You are safe under Olmert's rule .

if only our esteemed prime minister would follow his example ,and resign immediately olmert a much bigger threat to the existence of israel than bashar ever was

"... a normal citizen" That is to say, he's now subject to the same laws as everyone else. I've long argued that parliamentary immunity was a travesty, as it puts some above the law. Bishara and others like him have acted counter to laws passed by the Knesset he serves in. Yet due to immunity (confirmed by the High Court), and given that prosecution is often deemed *politically* sensitive, Israel's internal enemies are emboldened to ignore the law. We see yet more confirmation here. P.S. There is no "parliamentary immunity" for those serving in the US Congress. Perhaps we're more cognizant of the detrimental impact on respect for the Rule of Law than is the case in Israel.

all israeli arabs must leave Israel. They should be given 5 to 10 years to sell their goods fairly and prepare to pack out of here. This is a fair and human measure. What can not continue is 2 people living side by side just enduring each other,not standing with each other. There are no separating walls in this world that would resolv this situation if they keep living here.The insatisfation will not subside but increase ,since the space would be smaller and the fight among the two would be bigger and bigger. I see here women with muslim veils-many of them- and it is clear they do not belong to this place;they belong to muslims countries,not Jewish country. Israel must definitively resolv to resolv this matter once and for all. Human beings are not supposed to be unhappy;if there is unhappiness is because something is wrong and if something is wrong it must be resolved corageouly.

it shows that the arabs as moslems have a place of refuge in the many other islamic states of the world and can easily make good lives for themselves for world peace . a 5000sq kilometre state can give a homeland if and when for some monster reason the arabs from ancient palestine where threatened with death and destruction.

This shows that Israeli claims that Arabs have equal rights in Israel is untrue. The fact that Azmi Bishara is being persecuted for his views undermines the hope that two-states can work through mutual respect. Those fanatics in Israel cheering his demise are really cheering their own demise. It's very frightening to see extremism continue to grow not just among Palestinians but also among Israelis. Very tragic. Very sad. And soon, the whole concept of peace might be dead too. I hope not. I hope there are good people in Israel willing to stand up against the fanatics around them and push back. DOn't let these extremists win. Free speech is not just the cornerstone of Democracy, it is also the cornerstone of peace. Without it, there is no Democracy and no peace. Saddened and discouraged by the growing hatred in Israel Ray Hanania www.hanania.com

Whatever the allegations, cutting and running does not help ones case. Makes him look guilty in fact!

Ray, I will concede that, in practice, rights of Arab Israelis are not on par with rights of Jewish Israelis. However, that is not the case here. Bishara, as well as his colleagues, have been given the right to EXPRESS their views with impunity. However, there is a line between freedom of expression and incitement to violence; you don't have to pull a trigger to encourage someone to kill. For this reason, for example, Israel banned the party Kach. This group only SAID they felt Arabs should be expelled from Israel, as a matter of policy. Yet, in the goverment's eyes, these words (because of the potential actions they might cause) were deemed too harsh to be acceptable. Meanwhile, Bishara, for years, made many consequence-free, anti-establishment statements. It is his ACTIONS for which most people - here and in the gov't -want to take him to task. To go to Syria (an enemy nation) and give the leadership an unsubstantiated warning (recall, Bishara's not on any defense committees so it's not as if he had actual defense info) about an imminent Israeli attack on Syria is tantamount to asking Syria to attack Israel. This ACTION is not okay and it transgresses the boundaries of free speech. And we can assume this is not his only security transgression: there are several other charges against Bishara. Actually, regarding these charges, one might say he is receiving more consideration from the judicial authority, not less. Unlike other Israeli MKs, there is a gag order on the details of his investigation - in other words, the Arab MK is the only politician receiving reasonable doubt with a preexisting 'trial by press'. In terms of freedom of speech for Knesset members, one need only reference the lack of action taken against other Balad members or against Ahmed Tibi - all of whom have similar, anti-establishment opinions - in order to highlight the fact that Bishara's ACTIONS are the big issue. We can look at Raled Majadele, who refuses to sing the national anthem but was given a ministerial post, as another counter-example that demonstrates Israel's leniency for anti-establishment sentiments among Arab politicians. This is not about Bishara's opinions; this is about his actions that clearly and deliberately endangered Israel.

You alredy caused us enough damage.

It's pathetic how Jews feel so much envy that the Arabs are represented in the Knesset by such a clean-handed thinker, when all the Jews have are a bunch of corrupt sleazy Mafia politicians.

you will take your colleagues in the Knesset with you. You have only caused us, members of the Arab sector in Israel, difficulties. Instead of representing us in the Knesset, you people represent Arafat, Hanniyeh and Nasrallah. we, as a result of your association with the enemies of Israel are considered a fifth column in Israel, while many if not most of us would really like to simply live a peaceful integrated life in Israeli society.

says the al Qaida membership in Jordan

and the Jooooooooos are responsible for everything. learn that if you want peace you have to take responsibility for your actions.

We all don't really know anything about the investigation, but still, if the accusations agianst him are right, i think he might run away from egypt too. one definitly true fact i can tell about this man is that he never even tried to serve his voters' positions, he never tried to develop anything such as the israeli arab economic situation or the arab investment, he just tried to disrupt procedures in the israeli political agenda.

a traitor!