In the wake of Israeli leaders' persistent attempts to incite Palestinians of 1948 and their parties using open racist rhetoric, four members of Knesset of the Arab Joint List submitted a formal complaint to Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
MKs Masud Ghnaim, Abd al-Hakim Hajj Yahya, Talab Abu Arar, and Said al-Harumi stated in their complaint that Netanyahu accused his rival Benny Gantz of wanting to establish a government with the support of Arab Islamist hardliners, referring to the Arab Joint List.
They indicated that Netanyahu’s “hysteric” statements even accused Arab parties of wanting to annihilate the State of Israel.
Netanyahu has gone beyond all the “red lines of morality” in order to win the coming elections and remain the prime minister, the complaint read.
The lawmakers added that the PM’s statements are the continuation of his earlier incitement against Arabs during previous elections, when he tried to scare Jewish voters by warning them that Arabs were rushing to the ballot boxes.
Meanwhile, Secretary-General of Balad party Mtanes Shihadeh filed a complained to Yediot Aharonot about political journalist Amit Segal for calling the party “a terrorist organization with campaign funding."
“Segal’s statements go beyond the limits of free speech and journalism. Such statements de-legitimize Balad, which has a democratic platform calling for a state of all its citizens.”
Shihadeh called the remarks “open incitement” against the Arab society, adding that it breaks defamation laws. He demanded an apology from the journalist threatening to file a libel lawsuit.
Leaders of the Israeli right, headed by Netanyahu, used racism against Arabs in their election campaigns, to intimidate the left and the center, accusing them of intending to establish a government in cooperation with Arab lawmakers.
Co-leader of the newly formed Blue and White party MP Yair Lapid made statements denying repeated accusations of Netanyahu that the party intends to cooperate with Arab-Israeli parties in its bid for leadership change.
“We won’t form a government with the Arab parties, we will contact Likud, the post-Netanyahu Likud that is, to form a national unity government at this time of division and rifts,” Lapid said.
The campaign against the Southern Islamic Movement and al-Aqsa Society, led by the pro-Netenyahu newspaper Israel Hayom, blamed the movements for recent escalation in occupied Jerusalem by reopening the Bab al-Rahma for worshipers.
The newspaper wrote that the “southern wing of the Islamic Movement and Aqsa Society were a key element in the recent tensions.”
Various right-wing associations, namely Lach Yerushalayim, joined the campaign against the Movement and Waqf committee.
Head of Lach Yerushalayim Maor Tzemach issued a statement saying that allowing Arabs to pray in the rooms “that were used by terrorist organizations since 2003, is a serious violation of Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem.”
The Islamic Movement responded to the accusations indicating that the occupation is the one escalating the situation, asserting that its members and activists will remain stationed in al-Aqsa to carry out "our legitimate, national and humanitarian duty to defend our sanctities and our right to open Bab al-Rahma.”
