Nazareth mosque (illustrative)
Nazareth mosque (illustrative)Israel news photo: Flash 90

The mayor of Nazareth Illit, Shimon Gapso, is demanding that the state of Israel declare neighboring Nazareth "a hostile element" and stop giving it funds. The reason is march that he says was held in the city Saturday in support of the Gaza terrorists fighting the IDF.

Gapso accuses Nazareth mayor Ramez Jeraishi of the communist Hasash party of walking at the head of the procession, which protested Operation Pillar of Defense.

"I did not ask the mayor of Naareth to become righteous gentile and march with the flag of Israel," Gapso told Arutz Sheva. "However, I also think that it makes no sense that the head of an authority who receives huge budgets from the state of Israel will march behind the Palestinian flag, in front of posters that show Binyamin Netanyahu with hands that drip blood. I will not let this happen.

Most residents of Nazareth are law abiding citizens, he added, but there is a small minority that harbors enmity toward Israel.

"Our boys are fighting in Gaza and the mayor of Nazareth, who is a member of Hadash, supports the terror group," he said. "This is a grave matter."

Gapso said that the present government in Nazareth is a "fifth column" and that the entire city is turning into "a hotbed of terror within Israel, a center for distributing hatred of Israel that supports and backs any anti-Israel group.