Joint Arab List MK Ahmad Tibi on Monday denied reports that his party has teamed with teamed up with Palestinian officials at the United Nations and is working to have the U.N. General Assembly condemn Israel over the controversial nation-state law.
Hadashot evening news reported Sunday that Joint Arab List lawmakers have met with U.N. Undersecretary General Rosemary DiCarlo to present their case, and plan to have Palestinian Ambassador to the U.N. Riyad Mansour present a draft resolution for an anti-Israel vote just before the 73rd General Assembly session begins on Sept. 18.
Speaking with Channel 12 television, Tibi said there was no such initiative.
"This is fake news," he stated. "The Joint Arab List has no standing in the United Nations and therefore it cannot promote such an appeal."
Reiterating that his party had not teamed up with the Palestinian Mission to the U.N. on such an initiative, Tibi stressed Arab MKs "can't join something that doesn't exist."
He leveled harsh criticism at right-wing MKs who condemned the party over the alleged bid, saying they were "hypocritical."
"Jewish MKs are allowed to appeal to the U.N., to international bodies, to the U.S. Congress – but Arab MKs are not allowed to do so?" he wondered. "How many times have right-wing MKs appealed to Congress over settlement issues?"
Tibi stressed that while the reports about a U.N. bid were false, the Joint Arab List is not opposed to appealing to international organizations over the nation-state law.
"We are entitled – in fact, it is our duty – to appeal to any international forum on this issue," he declared.
"The U.N. has a treaty that says that minority rights must be protected, and we are a national minority whose rights are being violated. We will be remiss in our role as the Arab minority's representatives in Israel if we don't explain to the world the dangers of this law," he said.
Also on Monday, Opposition Leader Tzipi Livni (Zionist Union) met with the ambassadors of 11 countries and implored them "not to fall" for the disinformation disseminated by the Joint Arab List over the nation-state law.
While Livni remains an outspoken critic of the controversial legislation, she, too, criticized the Arab MKs after news of their U.N. bid broke.
"They [Joint Arab List MKs] and the Palestinian Authority don't even accept the principle that Israel is the Jewish people's state. You can't demand we adhere to the two-state solution while simultaneously deny that Israel is the Jewish people's state," she told the foreign envoys.
According to Channel 12, she further urged them "not to interfere with Israel's internal affairs" and "not to cooperate with any such move at the United Nations."
