An Arab-free Knesset?
There are two stories currently that are subconsciously, covertly linked: The efforts to disqualify Israeli Arab MK Hanin Zoabi from running in the upcoming election, along with all the Arab parties, and the videos recently uploaded to YouTube depicting IDF soldiers fleeing from stone-throwing Palestinian protesters in two separate incidents in Judea and Samaria.
Zoabi has taken part in terrorism against Israel. She is not fazed when faced with that fact. She may even enjoy it. And still, I hereby recommend that the Central Elections Committee reject the efforts to disqualify her, thereby saving the High Court of Justice the trouble of having to debate whether to uphold the ban.
There are two reasons for this: One is that for most Israeli citizens, there is no point in distorting the picture. If the reality is that some part, or even a majority, of Israel's Arabs want to be represented in the Knesset by a candidate who is affiliated with terror, there is no point in burying our heads in the sand. We can't eradicate this sad reality by denying or ignoring it. The other, main reason is that this move to disqualify Zoabi and the Arab parties will cause unprecedented damage to Israel's image in the West, right at the most sensitive time. Israel's enemies are trying to sabotage its status as the only democracy in the Middle East, and such a move can be used by them as proof that Israel is in fact not a democracy. What are the initiators of this disqualification bid trying to achieve? An Arab-free Knesset? That is ill advised.
Therefore, I recommend that the MKs minimize the scope of parliamentary immunity that they have granted themselves, for their own benefit rather than the public's. If the exaggerated immunities, the likes of which are unheard of in the democratic West, were to be diminished, any MK who cooperates with Palestinian terror, or would not enjoy immunity and would be eligible for prosecution. They would stand trial, be convicted and then punished by the court. That is democracy. That would be received with understanding by the world. That would embody equality equal treatment for Palestinian terror supporters as well as anyone else who endangers the Israeli public, in Jewish and Arab neighborhoods alike.
It is better to convict in court (if the court attaches moral turpitude to the conviction, the defendant won't be able to run for Knesset anyway) than an administrative process in which politicians disqualify politicians. And in the event that the attorney-general evades taking action against the offenders, then the public-constitutional debate will be with him, and that is how it should be.
On the other hand, the IDF chief of general staff has to forbid his soldiers from fleeing when faced with Palestinians armed with rocks. It is true that videos of IDF soldiers firing tear gas grenades into crowds of Palestinian protesters would damage Israel's image in the world, but the sight of Israeli soldiers running away and failing is far more damaging.
The government can instruct the IDF not to send soldiers into the Palestinian villages in question, where they were filmed running for their lives. But if the IDF does decide to send them there, they need to complete their mission, as intended. Assuming, that is, that they are authorized to use the legal means at their disposal to complete the mission, even if it doesn't photograph well. If they can't use all the legal means, then the mission should be aborted. Either way, there is one thing that has to be stopped: Even if the Palestinians are throwing rocks, we cannot have fleeing soldiers. In two words: No more.
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