Ayman Odeh
Ayman OdehMiriam Alster/Flash 90

MK Ayman Odeh, chairman of the Joint List faction, recently sent a request through the Palestinian Arab representatives to the United Nations to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Israel’s mission to the United Nations revealed on Thursday. 

In that request, Odeh asked that the Secretary General send a fact-finding mission to Israel to investigate the state of the Arab minority and land disputes in the Negev.

In his letter, Odeh wrote that “I would like to ask you to dispatch a fact-finding mission to the Negev to examine the dire situation of the land’s indigenous Arab population, and work to secure their rights as guaranteed by international law and conventions.”

UN Under-Secretary-General Jeffrey Feltman sent a letter in reply to Odeh denying the request.  The Under-Secretary-General sent his letter through the Israeli Mission to the UN, and not via Palestinian representative Riyad Mansour.

Just last month, Mansour compared Israel to Nazis in the Warsaw uprising, and in November he accused Israel of harvesting organs from Palestinian bodies.

Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon reacted harshly to Odeh’s actions and wrote a letter to the Speaker of the Knesset Yuli Edelstein saying: “I find it appalling that MK Odeh decided to work together with the Palestinian representative who regularly spreads anti-Semitic lies against the State of Israel.  A red line has been crossed.”

Of course, Arab MKs are notorious for their statements and actions against Israel despite being elected members of its parliament.

This has included openly supporting terrorism and even meetings with families of terrorists who murdered Israelis.

Odeh is no exception, having stirred up controversy by praising the wave of stabbing attacks as a “good strategy” that was “most beneficial” to Palestinian Arabs.

He was also criticized for calling former Shin Bet director Avi Dichter – now an MK for the Likud – a murderer. Odeh even offered the terrorist group Hezbollah support after the organization was blacklisted by Gulf Arab states.