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B Y S A M U E L S O K O L

Ayoub Kara, deputy minister for devel-

opment of the Negev, has called for Arabs

who exhibit what he perceives as disloyal-

ty to the state to be stripped of their citi-

zenship and to be given over to the

Palestinian Authority. Deputy Minister

Kara is the most prominent representative

of Israels Druze minority and was among

the Likud rebels who fought against Ariel

Sharons 2005 expulsion plan.

Israels Druze community provides a

high proportion of soldiers and police-

men to the security services. During the

2005 expulsion from Gush Katif and

Northern Samaria, Kara fought to make

sure that Druze soldiers were not used to

expel Jews from their homes.

In an interview in his Knesset office,

Kara stated that the situation could not

continue that people have much rights,

human rights and everything [from Israel]

and [have the] feeling that they are not

Israeli. There is nothing happening in all

the world like this situation. Kara, who

retired from the Israeli army with the rank

of major, explained I am thinking that peo-

ple that [do] not serve [in] the army, they

could not [be in] a parliament thatserves

the interests of this state. The big problem

for Israel is the Arabian [sic] that is between

the border of Israel and they [are] more

[fundamentalist] than the Palestinians.

In response to questions regarding

recent statements of support for Israels

enemies by Arab members of Knesset, Kara

stated that Israeli-Arabs act with double

behavior. If asked, he contended, Israeli-

Arabs would say that they prefer not to live

under an Arab regime but that they do not

act in consonance with such an attitude.

In 2006, during the Second Lebanon

War, Israeli-Arab MK Abbas Zachour stat-

ed that We are proud of Hamas and all

those who help it. Balad party parliamen-

tarian Hanin Zoabi, explaining her sup-

port for an Iranian nuclear weapons pro-

gram, stated I believe that [Israel] would

respect its use of power if shes afraid

from others. The fact that she is not afraid

from Arab countries, the fact that she is

not afraid from a potential declaration of

our Arab world to declare war against

Israel, makes Israel more violent. Zoabi

was a signatory to the Haifa Declaration, a

document which called for the end of the

Jewish nature of the state of Israel.

The deputy minister explained that he

believes that most Israeli-Arabs are not

like MK Zoabi and expressed his hopes

for the future of Israels Arab population.

One solution to Israeli-Arab rejection-

ism, Kara posited, could be that of

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

Kara said that if one wishes to maintain

Israeli nationality than one must sup-

port this country. Kara suggested that

there is a legislative solution.

Lieberman and his Yisrael Beiteinu

party maintain that Israelis should be

required to swear a loyalty oath and to per-

form military or alternative service to

retain their citizenship. According to the

partys Anglo spokesman, Danny Hershtal,

Yisrael Beiteinu would like to seechareidi

organizations such as ZAKA classed as

equivalents to national service. Lieberman

is an extremely controversial figure in

Israeli politics and has been called a

racist and a Kahanist for his views.

Kara, as opposed to proponents of popu-

lation transfer such as Benny Elon, suggest-

ed that instead of transferring people who,

in his words, [do] not need to be here, theIsraeli government could make slight

adjustments to the existing border between

Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Not

transfer, buta new border. Such a move

would involve placing Arabs who oppose

the Jewish and democratic nature of Israel

under the authority of the PA and stripping

them of Israeli citizenship.

Kara continued by saying that people

who need to be Palestinian [identify

themselves as Palestinian] should be

under the control of the Palestinian

Authority, should not be able to be elect-

ed to official positions in Israel or have

any rights as Israeli citizens. They are

thinking that to be Palestinian is better

he explained.

He theorized that the Israel/PA border

could be moved slightly to include the

town of Um-Al-Fahm, the headquarters of

Israels Northern Islamic Movement, an

offshoot of Egypts Muslim Brotherhood

and a hotbed of radical Islamism.

Responding to the question of whether

such a move would be interpreted by the

Palestinian Authority as an Israeli conces-

sion, Kara replied that he was referring

only to territory that was contiguous, or

nearly so, with the PA.

Regarding his constituency, Kara stated

that in a democratic regime all the citi-

zens [are] the same, and that its impor-

tant that people, exactly non-Jewish tofeel that they supportthis country.There

are much non-Jewish here that need sup-

port from the state and theregime here

did not give them enough push for that

referring to the discrimination faced by

Israels Druze minority.

We must give power for the people that

support the statethe Druze, and

Bedouinsand other non-Jewish I think

this is in interests of Israel. Kara indicated

that many non-Jews who serve feel upset

because those who are not Jewish and [do]

not serve the country, they have privileges

more than those who serve in the army.

Regarding the Netanyahu administra-

tion Kara said Now we have a good gov-

ernment. I am sure thatthere will be a

new law about this [loyalty]and all the

citizens of Israel wait for the government

to do somethingfor this Lieberman

finds himself popular.O

86 September 18, 2009 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES

Likud Deputy Minister CallsTo Strip Arabs Of Citizenship

MK Ayoub Kara.