Ayoob Kara: Likud leadership merely sees me as a 'vote contractor'
The deputy minister of regional cooperation believes that he has not been appointed as minister because of his Druze background; Kara says that he wants an explanation from the prime minister and says he will weigh difficult decisions if he does not receive one.
Druze Deputy Minister of Regional Cooperation Ayoob Kara told Ynet on Sunday morning that his non-appointment to a ministerial post is indicative of the Likud party's racism.
"Being appointed minister is not the issue; rather the reason they are not appointing me is the issue. They look at (me) as a vote contractor. That is unacceptable and racist," said Kara. Following the appointment of Avigdor Lieberman as defense minister, Kara is continuing his struggle for a ministerial appointment. "I will determine my future steps after the prime minister makes a decision," he told Ynet on Sunday morning.
Over the weekend, Kara compared himself to the fallen border police officer Madhat Yusuf, who died from blood loss at Joseph's Tomb at the beginning of the Second Intifada. However, the deputy minister backtracked from his comparison on Sunday: "In the heat of things, such things can be said…I apologize for that."
Kara added, "(The Likud leadership) are abandoning me on a personal and political issue."
Regarding his desire to be appointed as a minister, he said, "I have been elected to many Likud positions and have reliably fulfilled them. When they decided that I would be on the Likud list, they did not ask if I was Druze or Jewish. I am a senior (member of Likud) and (have served) four terms, and (now) twice they have sacrificed me for other parties like that of Lieberman. So if seniority and loyalty are what determines who is appointed minister, someone needs to tell me why (individuals) who left and came back to Likud are being appointed as ministers. Are they are better than me in terms of seniority and loyalty?"
When asked what he plans to do if not appointed minister, Kara said, "I am asking for an explanation; I am less concerned with being appointed a minister. If they will give me a good explanation, I'll even apologize. But if they don't, I will have to live with this, the abandonment of a person who has been with the prime minister and Likud for so many years. And then, I will have to make difficult decisions."
Kara concluded, "The title 'minister' means a promise from the prime minister that I will participate in government meetings. What is happening is that I was promised a seat at government meetings and to be a minister. And that was not fulfilled. I don't sit there, I am working as a deputy minister, and I am forbidden from government meetings except for professional matters. That bothers and jars me. My ethnic heritage is not a bad thing…I feel very frustrated that with my record, I can only be a vote contractor and not an equal amongst equals in Likud."
