MK Majalli Whbee (Kadima), a member of Israel’s Druze community, heavily criticized fellow Druze MK Sayid Nafa (Balad) on Thursday after Nafa embarked on a visit to Syria despite an order from Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit prohibiting the trip.  Whbee accused Nafa of following in the footsteps of former Balad MK Azmi Bishara, who fled the country due to accusations of treason, and of “fawning” over Syrian president Bashar Assad. 

Whbee dismissed Nafa and his kind as “marginal extremists who do not represent the overwhelming majority of the Druze community in Israel.”  However, he said, Israel should do more to stop them.  Thursday’s trip was “yet another sign that the state is hiding its head in the sand and does not do enough to cut down subversive activities carried out under the auspices of Balad and its leaders,” Whbee said.