Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman, Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs, visited an Israeli-Arab village in the Galilee Thursday.
Lieberman’s party calls for stripping Israeli citizenship from Israeli-Arabs who refuse to pledge loyalty to the State of Israel and for the repatriation of entire Arab villages in Wadi Ara to the Palestinian Authority.
Lieberman and members of his party visited the Christian Arab village to dispel the claim by Israel’s left that he is a racist. In their addresses to Arab villagers they expressed their appreciation and support for all loyal Israeli citizens, “no matter what their ethnic or religious background.”
"Every citizen loyal to his state should feel that the State of Israel is his home and that he is an integral part of society," Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Thursday evening during a visit to the Arab Christian village of Mailia in the Western Galilee. "As far as I am concerned, there is no difference between Rabbi Hirsch of Neturei Karta [who embraced Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad] and Sheik Ra'ed Salah [head of the Israeli-Arab Islamic Movement, who has called for an Israeli-Arab Intifada]. They are both Israel haters and their fate is equal."
Residents of the village reportedly welcomed the delegation. The Tanus family, who invited Lieberman, told Yediot Acharonot that they invited him to promote tourism and infrastructure in their village. "The minister is known as a man who works. He is a bulldozer, and this has been proven in the past. We hope it will be proven in the future as well. I would like this visit to serve the Christian sector, which I am part of," Assad Tanus told Yediot.
Lieberman brought with him Yisrael Beiteinu’s Tourism Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch.
Lieberman said he saw no reason that loyal Israeli-Arabs wouldn’t vote for his party. Voting for the Arab parties, he said, “can represent the interest of the Syrian or Palestinian citizen,” but the existing Arab parties do not demonstrate loyalty to the State of Israel.
Lieberman’s party calls for stripping Israeli citizenship from Israeli-Arabs who refuse to pledge loyalty to the State of Israel and for the repatriation of entire Arab villages in Wadi Ara to the Palestinian Authority.
Lieberman and members of his party visited the Christian Arab village to dispel the claim by Israel’s left that he is a racist. In their addresses to Arab villagers they expressed their appreciation and support for all loyal Israeli citizens, “no matter what their ethnic or religious background.”
"Every citizen loyal to his state should feel that the State of Israel is his home and that he is an integral part of society," Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Thursday evening during a visit to the Arab Christian village of Mailia in the Western Galilee. "As far as I am concerned, there is no difference between Rabbi Hirsch of Neturei Karta [who embraced Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad] and Sheik Ra'ed Salah [head of the Israeli-Arab Islamic Movement, who has called for an Israeli-Arab Intifada]. They are both Israel haters and their fate is equal."
Residents of the village reportedly welcomed the delegation. The Tanus family, who invited Lieberman, told Yediot Acharonot that they invited him to promote tourism and infrastructure in their village. "The minister is known as a man who works. He is a bulldozer, and this has been proven in the past. We hope it will be proven in the future as well. I would like this visit to serve the Christian sector, which I am part of," Assad Tanus told Yediot.
Lieberman brought with him Yisrael Beiteinu’s Tourism Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch.
Lieberman said he saw no reason that loyal Israeli-Arabs wouldn’t vote for his party. Voting for the Arab parties, he said, “can represent the interest of the Syrian or Palestinian citizen,” but the existing Arab parties do not demonstrate loyalty to the State of Israel.