Attorney Uri Tzipori of the Derech Chaim movement's legal group told Arutz Sheva on Wednesday about his new initiative, a bill allowing employees the right to fire Arab workers that pose a terrorist danger in declared national emergency situations.
"The time has come for us to stop saying 'the writing was on the wall' as in the case of the terrorist who worked for Bezeq and murdered a haredi Jew in the center of Jerusalem," he said, in reference to the attack conducted with a company car, knife and ax two weeks ago.
In that case, the terrorist was in fact the cousin of the two Arab terrorists who conducted the Har Nof massacre last November, and at the time he appeared on Israeli TV where he praised the terrorist attack, in a clear early warning sign. In a similar case, Beit Shemesh was in an uproar last week after a terror attack caused many to warn that hundreds of illegal Arab workers walk around the city freely.
Tzipori began by giving a brief outline of the current legal situation, explaining that "there's an equal employment law that forbids national identity, place of residence or political view from being taken into consideration in employment or advancement."
"If for example someone wants to fire a worker who on Facebook posts that he identifies with 'martyrs' and wants to murder Jews, if he wants to fire him on this background, he is forbidden from taking that into account. Why? Because that's called a 'political viewpoint.'"
National emergency situations
The lawyer said in such cases the employer "is left helpless. The only thing he can do - which won't help him much anyway - is to turn to the police, to submit a complaint and say 'I saw on Facebook or wherever that my employee says such and such,' and if the police decide that there's a crime involved - which is a great doubt because there's freedom of speech - then he could be allowed to fire him."
"Until it reaches a situation like that he can't do anything."
Tzipori argued that national identity, residence and political view are "very relevant in the period we find ourselves in. Therefore the amendment we requested is to allow people to take this data into consideration as long as there is an emergency situation declared in the state."
"If the state itself recognizes that we are in an emergency situation...and the state itself uses administrative steps (such as administrative arrest - ed.) which is not democratic, because it knows citizens are in danger...then there's no reason to prevent citizens the same option of defending their lives."
He continued by saying that if such steps are not permitted in emergency situations, "we argue that it harms the basic law of human dignity and liberty...(which) defends the rights of people to guard their life and liberty."
Several MKs have responded to Tzipori's queries expressing interest, but he noted that it isn't enough, and that he hopes a courageous MK will arise to champion the bill and change the situation, instead of continuing to act in a reactionary manner.
Attorney Tzipori is the grandson of Mordechai Tzipori, who was a brigadier general in the IDF and a MK with Likud, and served as Communications Minister and Deputy Defense Minister.