MK Aida Touma-Sliman drew outrage last week when she said that Israel was "a country that is developing clear signs of apartheid." Touma-Sliman, of the Joint Arab List party, made the remark during a two-day conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York marking "50 years of occupation" last week. The conference was organized by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. During a panel discussion on Friday, Suleiman said that "there can be no democracy with occupation, there can be no social justice with the oppression of an entire people." She also urged U.N. members to "exert significant pressure on Israel." Yisrael Beytenu faction chairman Robert Ilatov was infuriated by Touma-Sliman's remarks, saying that her "obsession with hurting the country has crossed every line." "It is too bad that instead of taking advantage of the situation to condemn the genocide in Syria, she decided to attack the only country in the Middle East where Arab women have the same rights as men," Ilatov said. Yesh Atid MK Meir Cohen also voiced his contempt, saying that "MK Touma-Sliman's despicable remarks against Israel are wrapped in unprecedented hypocrisy." Likud MK Oren Hazan said that "if there was an apartheid regime here, she would have been locked up a long time ago."
Ahead of the conference, Israel's Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon slammed Touma-Sliman's participation in the conference, saying that it was "shameful that a member of Knesset is abusing her position and is working together with the Palestinians to harm Israel at the U.N."
