A new bill seeks to prevent individuals who have expressed support for terrorism or an armed struggle against Israel from vying for elected municipal roles.
The legislative proposal, sponsored by Likud MK Tali Ploskov also seeks to prevent individuals who have expressed support for acts carried out citing racist, nationalist, ethnic, and sectarian motives.
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Ploskov explained that her initiative seeks to apply Article 7A of Basic Law: The Knesset, which excludes terror sympathizers for serving as lawmakers, to the law regulating elections in localities nationwide.
Im Tirtzu, a right-wing NGO, lobbied for the bill following a series of statements and acts by councilmen and municipal employees in various cities.
These incidents included a public reception held in the northern city of Shfaram celebrating the release of convicted terrorist Anis Saffouri, who was sentenced in 2009 to 14 years in prison for conspiring to murder Israeli Air Force pilots, soldiers, and scientists.
In another incident, Nazareth City Councilman Ihab Dahan lauded terrorists on social media; Haifa Councilman Raja Za'atara – a member of the city's defense committee – professed his support for Hamas and Hezbollah, and compared Zionism with the Salafist ideology of the Islamic State, and over in the Jerusalem Municipality, an employ if the city's community administration praised terrorists on social media.
"Statements supporting terrorism or sympathizing with terrorists silence those who seek to promote [social] integration," said Ploskov, who heads the Knesset's Ethics Committee. "They create false representation by which calling for Israel's elimination is as legitimate as the attempt to integrate into its society."
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