Bishara may not return to Israel

Balad Chairman MK Azmi Bishara, who left Israel amid a police investigation into his foreign contacts, was quoted Saturday as saying in Egypt that he is considering staying abroad because he fears a long term jail sentence and an end to his political career.

Bishara, a fiery nationalist Arab lawmaker, left the country earlier this month after Israeli media outlets speculated that the police investigation could lead to charges ranging from treason to corruption.

Bishara told a group of Egyptian intellectuals late Saturday that he might not return to Israel, to avoid a trial.

According to several people who attended the meeting with Bishara at the Egyptian Press Syndicate, the lawmaker said he was being investigated in Israel on accusations that include “providing enemy with information at a time of war, visiting an enemy country and bringing money illegally into the state of Israel”.

“I will not venture going back while these threats still stand,” Bishara was quoted as saying by the intellectuals meeting with him. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

They also said that Bishara claimed the “accusations are politically motivated and aim at ending his political activities,” but had ruled out the possibility of resigning from the Knesset.

Bishara declined to talk to reporters on the record because no official charges have been raised yet. The lawmaker has in the past angered many Jewish Israelis by openly identifying with Syria and with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants.

Critics charge he has encouraged violent attacks against Israel, which Bishara denies. Israeli police had confirmed that they were investigating Bishara’s case.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld has said there was an inquiry against Bishara by the Israeli police international crime and investigations unit. He said the court forbade disclosing any other details, including what charges Bishara might face, until the gag order expires on April 23.

Bishara, 50, leads Balad, which has three members in the 120-seat parliament. He has recently been visiting family in Jordan and speaking at conferences in Europe. On Saturday, he met with Egypt’s foreign minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

He has also has given numerous interviews to Arab media in which he claimed he was a victim of a political conspiracy and also said he might quit the parliament.

Interviewed Sunday by Al-Jazeera television, Bishara restated his intention to resign his seat in the Israeli legislature but did not say when.

In Israel, his party issued a statement denouncing what it called a “witch hunt” and calling on authorities to lift the gag order and allow Bishara to clear his name. It said it was considering petitioning Israel’s Supreme Court on Bishara’s behalf.

Bishara has for years been a leading voice for Israel’s Arab citizens, who make up about 20 percent of the population.

He once summed up the situation of Arabs who found themselves part of Israel when it was formed in 1948 out of part of what had been British-ruled Palestine. He has come under fire for his frequent visits to Syria and Lebanon.

His Jewish colleagues in parliament have frequently accused him of incitement against Israel for calling on Arabs around the world to support the Palestinians in their struggle against Israel.

Israelis were also shocked when on one of his trips to Syria, Bishara sat next to the Hezbollah leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, at a memorial service for Syria’s late President Hafez Assad.