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Israeli Arab Parties Condemn Label of Hezbollah as Terror Group

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JERUSALEM, Israel – Members of two Arab political parties in Israel are angry that fellow Arabs from the Gulf Cooperation Council decided to designate Hezbollah a terrorist organization.

Hezbollah has killed more Americans than any terror group except al Qaeda.

The Balad Party, home of exiled Israeli Arab MK Azmi Bishara, who decided not to return to Israel to face charges of helping Hezbollah during the 2006 Second Lebanon War, condemned the decision.

Bishara's party mates, Knesset members Haneen Zoabi and Jamal Zahalka, and Hadash Party head Ayman Odeh, said the council's decision fans the flames of the Sunni-Shi'ite divide and benefits "the occupation," i.e., Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on the other hand, called the decision "important" and "amazing," while expressing astonishment that Arabs living in Israel support an organization that wants to destroy Israel.

"But what's no less amazing is that two parties here in the Knesset condemned the decision," Netanyahu said, a decision that reflects a change of direction in the Arab world.

"They give hope for a better future for all nations in the Middle East," Netanyahu said during a speech in the Knesset. He also said he hoped the decision would help Israel's relationship with Palestinians who want to live in peace with their Jewish neighbors.

MKs on both sides of the political aisle responded with one voice on the Arab parties' seeming support of Hezbollah.

Likud MK David Bitan, chairman of the Knesset House Committee, said he may ask the attorney general to consider whether Balad's frequent anti-Israel statements support terrorism.

Transportation Minister David Katz said the Arab dissenters should join Azmi Bishara in exile "because that's where traitors belong." He reportedly asked the Knesset's Ethics Committee to examine the legality of their statements.

"It is simply unbelievable that these members of the Israeli Knesset are sabotaging the interests of Israel," Katz said. "I call on Ayman Odeh and Jamal Zahalka to join Azmi Bishara in Qatar or Syria. These are the places for these traitors."

Avigdor Lieberman, head of the Yisrael Beitenu (Israel our Home) Party said these MKs align themselves with the Arab world's "worst extremists."

Hezbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah didn't comment directly on the council's decision, but a day earlier condemned Saudi Arabia for suspending military aid to Lebanon, saying it served to fuel Lebanon's political conflict.

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About The Author

Tzippe
Barrow

From her perch high atop the mountains surrounding Jerusalem, Tzippe Barrow tries to provide a bird’s eye view of events unfolding in her country. Tzippe’s parents were born to Russian Jewish immigrants, who fled the czar’s pogroms to make a new life in America. As a teenager, Tzippe wanted to spend a summer in Israel, but her parents, sensing the very real possibility that she might want to live there, sent her and her sister to Switzerland instead. Twenty years later, the Lord opened the door to visit the ancient homeland of her people.