El-Sana: Shin Bet running state
Photo: Dudi Vaaknin
Diskin: Arab MKs flirting with enemy
Photo: Yaron Brener
Zoabi: We don't care what people say
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Arab MKs furious at Shin Bet chief
'We are part of Palestinian nation, but not at expense of Israeli citizenship,' says Taleb El-Sana
Arab MKs were steamed Friday at a WikiLeaks revelation that Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin said they were "flirting with the enemy".
One of the leaked documents published by Yedioth Ahronoth Friday contanied an account of Diskin's meeting with US officials. He was quoted as saying that some in the Israeli-Arab public see themselves as Arabs and Muslims first and Israeli citizens last.
"What Diskin said is akin to an earthquake, he has gone too far," MK Taleb El-Sana (United Arab List-Ta'al) said. "He meant to say that the Shin Bet was operating the state in all areas."
Earlier
New Wikileaks documents shine unkind light on security officials assessments, opinions of Arab MKs, who 'abuse diplomatic immunity'
Of the Arab MKs he said that "(…) these people don’t spread Israel's democratic values and principles, and abuse their diplomatic immunity." He also attributed the problem to Palestinian refugees who return to Israel and "brought bad ideas" with them.
El-Sana called for an investigation against Diskin. "Instead of serving the Arab public, he expresses himself with dangerous statements that are totally unfounded. We operate according to the law, and all violations that take place should be taken care of through the proper legal procedures," he said.
"We will never deny that we are part of the Palestinian nation, but this is not at the expense of our Israeli citizenship."
MK Hanin Zoabi (Balad) was also furious. "With this statement Diskin has defined us as enemies and not citizens," she said, explaining that the Shin Bet chief was continuing a political attack he began in 2007, "when he said he would target any struggle aimed at achieving equality in the state".
"We know what Diskin means when he says we bring negative ideas with us. He wants to shut us up," she said.
"We don't care what people say about our participation in Palestinian conferences together with people from all over the world. What Diskin fears is what we say about Israeli democracy and the new laws."
- Follow Ynetnews on Facebook
