When it comes to the debate on whether to form a government with Arab parties, the discourse stems from manipulation, deceit, and mostly self-deception.
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For this debate to be fair and on-point, two crucial points have to be made clear.
First of all, it is not about the political legitimacy of the Arab voice. We are talking about bringing into the government radical political parties that reject the legitimacy of the Jewish state and identify with its enemies who resort to violent means in fighting against it.
Secondly, what is at stake is not just an offer for these parties to participate in parliamentary activities but to have a say in shaping the very future of Israel.
In the past, these leaders voted against the 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty and the Abraham Accords. On both national and municipal levels, they present Israel as an illegitimate colonial project whose very existence is a sin. The "heroes" they look up to are PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and the Hamas terrorist organization.
Time has shown that integrating Arab parties into the government did not mitigate their hate. When Former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was supported by the Arab parties, Arab MK Ahmad Tibi openly pleaded Arafat's case even after it became known that he perpetrated several terrorist attacks against Israelis.
In the 1990s, Arab MK Hashem Mahameed, who served in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee at the expense of the Labor Party, said, "We made Rabin prime minister."
He called Arabs that support Israelis "traitors" and vowed that they would be eliminated. For him, Hezbollah was a "national liberation movement," and its terrorists "freedom fighters." He said that in all the years of Israel's existence, there was not a single military operation, not even Operation Entebbe, that was legitimate self-defense.
It seems that most Arab Israelis do want to integrate into Israeli society. They do not support terrorism, but most of them choose representatives that are hostile and radical.
Arab parties, even those that are critical and demanding, will be welcomed into the Knesset as long as they are committed to Israel.
The paradox is that integrating these parties into the government will only bring about more provocations, creating more obstacles for Arab Israelis to integrate into Israeli society.
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