Joint Arab List Chairman Ayman Odeh over the weekend called on former prime minister and Democratic Union member Ehud Barak to drop out of the Sept. 17 Knesset race, saying Barak's apology for the events of October 2000 was hollow.
In a Facebook post, Odeh condemned Barak for calling on Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan to temper the police's reaction to the escalating protests against Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit, but rejected the apology, saying Barak had "betrayed," Israeli Arabs.
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Earlier, Barak had written a Facebook post about arrests made during the weekly protest near Mendelblit's home in Petach Tikva – a weekly occurrence expressing frustration by some who believe the attorney general is dragging his feet in the investigations against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"Erdan, Petah Tikva is not Umm al-Hiran, civilians are allowed to protest," Barak wrote, referring to the Bedouin village that has been at the center of diplomatic controversy ahead of its planned demolition.
Commenting on Barak's apology for the killing of 12 Israeli Arabs and a Palestinian by security forces during clashes in 2000, which took place while Barak was prime minister and are widely considered at the trigger to the Second Intifada, Odeh wrote, "Barak, protesting is allowed in Umm al-Hiran as well, and Arab citizens are also allowed to protest.
"Nineteen years have passed since you were responsible for the killing of 13 Arab citizens because they took to the streets. Nineteen years since you betrayed the hundreds of thousands of Arabs who voted for you in the direct election against Benjamin Netanyahu. We learned the hard way that there are more important things than the politics of 'anyone but Bibi.'"
"We have already seen your cynical election apology to Mizrahi Jews," the Arab lawmaker continued. "A real show of responsibility would be stepping down from the public stage. In order to replace the right-wing government and fight for a future of the partnership, you must be left in the past."
Responding on Facebook, Barak wrote: "There is no need to help Netanyahu stoke hatred and Odeh knows this well. The misunderstanding of my wording has been clarified: 'In Umm Al-Hiran, the investigation was covered up. This must not happen again.' Exploiting a misunderstanding for the sake of provoking a fight between Jews and Arabs is not a partnership. It is a continuation of the despicable cooperation with Netanyahu."
