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Photo: Alex Kolomoisky
Balad's Haneen Zoabi at the Knesset
Photo: Alex Kolomoisky
Nahum Barnea

The Balad problem

Op-ed: Provocation is the bread and butter of Balad. However, they did not break the law. 'Those observing a minute of silence in memory of shahids aid terrorism,' says Elkin. Based on that, any provocateur can be accused of aiding terrorism - even Elkin himself, when he goes on the Temple Mount.

Last Wednesday I met Minister of Immigrant Absorption Ze'ev Elkin at the Knesset. Elkin is considered the minister with the highest intelligence quotient in the government, a compliment that does not say much about him – and yet. 

 

 

During the week, Elkin tried to advance legislation that would enable the Knesset to oust an MK from office. When I met him, he was confident of victory. "Get used to it," he said with a kind of smugness. "The right wig legislates." Despite his sharp mind and long experience in parliamentary maneuvers, Elkin did not understand what every newcomer understands: the bill will not pass.

 

Too many members of the coalition are concerned that the threat of impeachment will be used against them. Most of them have worked very hard to get to the Knesset, they like their seats, and their immunity is total. They have no reason to put their senior position at risk.

 

Netanyahu was the one who promoted this impeachment bill, in response to a meeting of the Balad Knesset members with the relatives of terrorists. As usual, he was the first to see, the first to make noise and the first to fold. Lightning and thunder and no rain. Avigdor Lieberman, from whom Netanyahu siphoned both the voters and the campaign against the Arab MKs, called the prime minister over the weekend "a charlatan." A charlatan is a swindler, one that hands out bounced checks. If the choice is between Elkin, who earnestly strives to change the regime, and Netanyahu, who is content with rhetorical trickery, perhaps Netanyahu is better.

 

Balad MKs meet with family members of the terrorists. (Photo: Arab media)
Balad MKs meet with family members of the terrorists. (Photo: Arab media)

 

Elkin argues that members of the Joint List told him, in private conversations: You've got to do something about Balad. Their radical rhetoric gets all the glory, and we have no choice but to be dragged after them. Indeed, Balad creates a problem especially for Arabs. It impedes its partners in the Joint List, the sector it represents, and in this case the families seeking to bury the bodies of their loved ones. If Balad did not exist, the Israeli right would have had to invent it.

 

Last week, I talked to Basel Ghattas, one of Balad's three Knesset members. Why did you go to the meeting, I asked. On humanitarian grounds, he said. Why observe a minute of silence, I asked. We always do that, he said. Why did you boast about the meeting on your Facebook page, I asked. Ghattas tried to shift the responsibility. First of all, he said, it was not just us. Mohammed Saadi from Ta’al wanted to come, but happened to have gotten delayed at the Knesset; and the post was a mistake: we planned to do this quietly, but we have one volunteer, a young man, who saw our picture on one of the social network, he was enthusiastic and put it up on Facebook without asking anyone.

 

He told me the name of the volunteer. After a few hours he asked me not to publicize his name. You didn't want media attention, I said, but you got photos and videos. We are always being photographed, he said. A day later, he sent me a message which boasted that in the wake of the outrage, young Arabs have joined his party. Like quite a few politicians in the Jewish sector, he wanted to eat his cake and have it.

 

MK Basel Ghattas
MK Basel Ghattas

 

Only a fool would believe that only humanitarian motives brought the Balad members to the meeting. Provocation is their bread and butter. However, they did not break the law. "Those who stand at attention for shahids (martyrs), in my opinion aid terrorism," said Elkin. This method can be used to blame any provocateur with aiding terrorism, including Elkin himself, when he goes to the Temple Mount.

 

Those who are responsible for Balad's existence in the Knesset is the right wing. The decision to raise the threshold from two percent to 3.25 percent was designed to push the Arabs out. But contrary to the belief of Lieberman,  who proposed the legislation, the Arabs unified and Balad enjoyed the windfall. I doubt Balad would have entered the Knesset if the elections were conducted under the previous threshold. MK David Bitan from the Likud is trying to raise a majority in the Knesset to return to the former threshold, in the hope that the Arabs will split again. Small chance that would happen: Aryeh Deri, who is afraid of the competing party led by Eli Yishai, will veto it.

 

The photographed meeting with the families of the terrorists, including the minute of silence in memory of the shahids, will return to the headlines ahead of the next elections. The Joint List’s leadership will have to decide whether to keep Balad in their list. With Balad inside, they risk being disqualified by the Election Committee, or losing control over the faction in the next Knesset; with Balad out, they risk losing seats.

 

In the meantime, another draconian bill from the right wing will soon follow this one, and we won't know if this is another trick to distract us or another move on the on the road to the loss of democracy.

 


פרסום ראשון: 02.15.16, 20:53
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