MK Jamal Zahalka
Photo: Hagai Aharon
On Monday, the Knesset's Elections Committee conveyed a message, via a large majority, to the political leadership of Israel's Arabs: Those who reject the Jewish people's right for a state of their own would no longer be able to enjoy the perks of serving in the Jewish state's parliament.
When the cannons roar, the muses fall silent, and when Grad rockets land at kindergartens, even the bleeding hearts forget about their politically correct doctrines; or alternately, they fear the decision of the voters.
Even though the decision is the proper one in respect to the law and also in terms of logic and morality, there is no doubt that it would not enjoy such broad majority support without the war in Gaza in the backdrop.
Knesset Elections
Aviad Glickman
Central Elections Committee determines Balad, United Arab List-Ta'al parties ineligible to run in February 2009, on grounds that they don't recognize the state and call for armed conflict against it. Tibi: This is a racist country
Despite the claims of discrimination which they commonly make, there is no denying that Israeli Arabs enjoy the advantages of living under Israel's democracy without being asked to bear the price of its existence in terms of putting their lives on the line. They do not die on the battlefield like the Jews or the Druze, and they vehemently oppose the notion of civil service within their own communities.
As opposed to most Israeli citizens, they are also not a target for terror attacks.
Therefore, they continue to smear Israel's democracy while at the same time firmly objecting to any proposal that would see even one of their villages within Israel being transferred to the Palestinian Authority's control.
The last time we saw a decision to disqualify a party, High Court judges reversed the motion to disqualify Azmi Bishara from running in the elections; later on it turned out that they were protecting a Hizbullah agent.
Yet in the face of the broad Zionist consensus at the Knesset's Elections Committee this time around, the judges will have to make an even greater effort to rule that all is well with the two parties banned this week.
The writer is the editor of national-religious newspaper B'Sheva