MK Azmi Bishara (Balad) remains at large, the crimes he may be accused of remain blacked out by a gag order, but the Petah Tikva Magistrates Court ruled Sunday that the fact that the Police International Crimes Division is investigating the MK may be published.
The ruling came as a result of a request by Arab parties and newspapers for the release and declassification of the crimes Bishara is being accused of.
Bishara himself has begun granting interviews from abroad, confirming, contrary to claims by his party, that he will be resigning from the Knesset and insisting he is the victim of incitement.
"The publication of a photograph of my home and its address in newspapers constitutes incitement to murder,” Bishara told an Arabic Galilee-based radio station. “It makes me rethink my position as a Knesset member."
The controversial Knesset Member has already, however, announced that he will be resigning from the Knesset in an interview with the Hadith A-Nas Arabic newspaper, also based in the Galilee. He also said his fellow party members oppose the decision as it would entail removing his parliamentary immunity and leaving him vulnerable to prosecution.
Bishara explained that he was being persecuted as a representative of Israeli-Arab demands for autonomy and support for the causes of the surrounding Arab states.
He refused to reveal where he was hiding out, but said he would travel to Qatar Sunday. “I need a few days of quiet in order to think about what is happening," Bishara said.
He said Israel is "not going to be able to handle the challenge I've presented on the issue of its Jewishness and the position of Zionism here."
Bishara’s family returned to Israel Thursday after accompanying him in Jordan last week.
Calls to ban Bishara’s Balad (National Democratic Assembly) party on the grounds that its members continue to visit enemy countries were dismissed by Attorney General Menachem Mazuz Sunday.
Mazuz submitted a motion to the Supreme Court requesting that a petition by attorney Ofir Miller calling for the move be rejected. Similar moves were taken against the late Rabbi Meir Kahane’s Kach Party based on allegations that its policy of encouraging Arab emigration was racist.
MK Effie Eitam (National Union-NRP) announced Sunday that he is submitting a law that would require incoming members of Knesset to pass a security background check. According to the law, any MK who failed the check would be replaced by a different candidate from his or her party’s list.
Eitam linked the new law to Bishara’s behavior, saying “It is unthinkable that someone like Azmi Bishara, who visits enemy states like Syria, would serve as a lawmaker in the state of Israel.” On Friday, Eitam called Bishara “A traitor and a coward who fled abroad to avoid punishment for his crimes against Israel.”
Bishara himself launched an attack on his critics, singling out Maariv editor Ben Dror Yemini, who said Bishara should be barred reentry to Israel, "a little racist…I don’t have to respond to every stupid Israeli journalist or Arab collaborator who works for him," Bishara said.
Though Bishara claims to be victim of an incitement campaign, at least one of his critics, a Nazareth man who was critical of the MK in a TV interview, reported receiving a death threat for criticizing Bishara.
The man had said, "If Bishara didn't do anything, why doesn't he come back to Israel?"
The ruling came as a result of a request by Arab parties and newspapers for the release and declassification of the crimes Bishara is being accused of.
Bishara himself has begun granting interviews from abroad, confirming, contrary to claims by his party, that he will be resigning from the Knesset and insisting he is the victim of incitement.
"The publication of a photograph of my home and its address in newspapers constitutes incitement to murder,” Bishara told an Arabic Galilee-based radio station. “It makes me rethink my position as a Knesset member."
The controversial Knesset Member has already, however, announced that he will be resigning from the Knesset in an interview with the Hadith A-Nas Arabic newspaper, also based in the Galilee. He also said his fellow party members oppose the decision as it would entail removing his parliamentary immunity and leaving him vulnerable to prosecution.
Bishara explained that he was being persecuted as a representative of Israeli-Arab demands for autonomy and support for the causes of the surrounding Arab states.
He refused to reveal where he was hiding out, but said he would travel to Qatar Sunday. “I need a few days of quiet in order to think about what is happening," Bishara said.
He said Israel is "not going to be able to handle the challenge I've presented on the issue of its Jewishness and the position of Zionism here."
Bishara’s family returned to Israel Thursday after accompanying him in Jordan last week.
Calls to ban Bishara’s Balad (National Democratic Assembly) party on the grounds that its members continue to visit enemy countries were dismissed by Attorney General Menachem Mazuz Sunday.
Mazuz submitted a motion to the Supreme Court requesting that a petition by attorney Ofir Miller calling for the move be rejected. Similar moves were taken against the late Rabbi Meir Kahane’s Kach Party based on allegations that its policy of encouraging Arab emigration was racist.
MK Effie Eitam (National Union-NRP) announced Sunday that he is submitting a law that would require incoming members of Knesset to pass a security background check. According to the law, any MK who failed the check would be replaced by a different candidate from his or her party’s list.
Eitam linked the new law to Bishara’s behavior, saying “It is unthinkable that someone like Azmi Bishara, who visits enemy states like Syria, would serve as a lawmaker in the state of Israel.” On Friday, Eitam called Bishara “A traitor and a coward who fled abroad to avoid punishment for his crimes against Israel.”
Bishara himself launched an attack on his critics, singling out Maariv editor Ben Dror Yemini, who said Bishara should be barred reentry to Israel, "a little racist…I don’t have to respond to every stupid Israeli journalist or Arab collaborator who works for him," Bishara said.
Though Bishara claims to be victim of an incitement campaign, at least one of his critics, a Nazareth man who was critical of the MK in a TV interview, reported receiving a death threat for criticizing Bishara.
The man had said, "If Bishara didn't do anything, why doesn't he come back to Israel?"