MK Ahmed Tibi has issued an appeal to United States President Barack Obama asking the president to fight “institutionalized discrimination” in Israel by giving millions of dollars in American money to Israel's Arab citizens.
The appeal was passed to Obama in a letter given to the care of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. Parts of the letter were leaked Monday and printed in the Hebrew-language daily Maariv.
Tibi reminded Obama of his speech to the Muslim world made from Cairo in June. “There is institutionalized discrimination against Arabs in Israel and the time has come that everyone, including President Obama who spoke about minority rights in his Cairo speech, pay attention to the situation of the Arab minority,” he said.
As a solution to Israel's alleged discrimination, Tibi asked Obama to reduce U.S. aid to Israel by twenty percent, and to send that money directly to Israel's Arab community instead. “The time has come for the president to hear the needs of this minority, which cries out under discrimination,” he said.
In addition, Tibi spoke with Carter about his conviction that Arab Israelis face nationwide discrimination. Carter expressed sympathy with Tibi's views, and said he is aware of the crisis facing Israel's Arab community.
The U.S. provides Israel with more than $2 billion a year in military aid. America formerly provided civilian aid to Israel as well, but non-military aid was recently phased out by mutual agreement.
America provides military and civilian aid to several Muslim countries in the Middle East as well, among them Pakistan, Jordan and Iraq. The Palestinian Authority is another beneficiary of U.S. assistance, as is the population of Gaza.