National Union MKs Uri Ariel and Aryeh Eldad demand that Prime Minister Olmert prevent the government's newest Cabinet minister, Raleb Majadle, from exposure to secrets related to Israel's space agency.
Majadle, from the Arab town of Baka el-Garbia, was appointed a Cabinet minister several weeks ago on behalf of the Labor Party. It was widely surmised at the time that the appointment stemmed from party chairman Amir Peretz's desire to curry favor with the Israeli-Arab community.
After a period of serving as a Minister Without Portfolio, Majadle is now about to be named Minister of Science, Culture and Sport. This prompted MK Ariel, the chairman of the Knesset faction of the National Union-National Religious Party party, to write an urgent letter to Prime Minister Olmert, asking that the Israel Space Agency be removed from the purview of Majadle's ministry.
"The Space Agency is responsible for sensitive projects directly connected with Israeli security," Ariel wrote to Olmert. Ariel asked the Prime Minister to take authority for the Agency himself.
At the same time, Ariel's party colleague - and next-door neighbor in Kfar Adumim, south of Jericho - MK Aryeh Eldad, asked General Security Service head Yuval Diskin to prevent Majadle from having access to classified information relating to the Space Agency and other matters. Eldad said that Majadle must first undergo an investigative security check.
The new minister refuses to do so.
Majadle said that he would resign rather than have to undergo such a check. He said he passed the public's test when he was elected to the Knesset and received the government's approval.
Just last week, in one of Majadle's first Cabinet meetings, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert decided to conduct, for the first time, a periodic intelligence briefing before the entire Cabinet and not just the smaller mini-security cabinet. "I thought it would be right for the entire government to hear it," Olmert said, "in order to formulate a strategy and understand the trends in the Middle East... I expect the ministers to show responsibility and not leak the sensitive subjects discussed here."
Ironically, Israel's acting President is currently, for the first time, a Druze. MK Majali Wahabe is taking the place of Acting President and Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik, who is on an official week-long trip to the United States. Wahabe, one of seven Deputy Speakers in the Knesset, received the honor by virtue of his being the only one of the seven who is of the ruling Kadima Party. Wahabe was present at this week's 87th anniversary commemoration of the Tel Chai battle at which Yosef Trumpeldor and his comrades fell.