The World Likud met Thursday to discuss the issues facing Israel. The meeting, the second of its kind, was attended by senior party activists and Members of Knesset as well as Likud supporters from the United States, Turkey, Peru, Australia and elsewhere.
The central discussion focused on the question: “Israel's Arabs—equal citizens, or a fifth column?” The issue was debated by MK Yisrael Katz, World Likud head Danny Danon, and Yariv Oppenheimer, head of the extreme-left Peace Now group.
MK Katz discussed the need for legislation that would protect Israel from those seeking to destroy it. If this legislation is not passed, he said, Arab Israelis who are hostile to the state could take advantage of its democratic nature to do harm.
Danny Danon said the main problem in the Arab community within pre-1967 Israel is its leaders. “Israeli Arab leaders are acting under various organizations in order to undermine and harm the state,” he said. “Our responsibility as Jews who established a state after 2,000 years of exile is to maintain our security, including from those who try to destroy the state from within.”
Danon, who is planning to run for a seat in the next Knesset, said, “When I'm a Member of Knesset in another few months, I'll make sure the Shin Bet investigates Israeli Arab leaders and their ties to terrorist groups and enemy states.” Danon has led a campaign to end benefits given to former MK Azmi Bishara, who fled the country after investigators revealed evidence that he gave security information to Hizbullah during the Second Lebanon War.
Yariv Oppenheimer spoke of Israel's obligations to Arab citizens, who he said should be treated as equal in every way. Oppenheimer and his group have often accused Israel of discrimination against Arab citizens, who are poorer on average than the Jewish citizens.
Oppenheimer's speech was met by opposition from several audience members, some of whom called out, “You go live in Umm el-Fahm.” Umm el-Fahm is an Arab city known to be hostile to Israeli Jews, where Jewish nationalists plan to hold a march soon. Danon stepped in to quiet the crowd.