Ayman Odeh
Ayman OdehEliran Aharon

Joint Arab List Chairman Ayman Odeh on Saturday night claimed that MK Heba Yazbak's (Joint Arab List) remarks about terrorists being "martyrs" ("shahid" in Arabic) was not meant to encourage harm to innocent people.

In an interview with Channel 12 News' Meet the Press program, Odeh claimed: "No one in the Joint List supports harming innocent civilians, including Heba."

He admitted that "it could be that when people were younger, they acted differently."

The word "martyrs," he claimed, does not refer solely to those who died while conducting terror attacks or killing infidels. In his opinion, it applies to "a person who dies at work" as well.

When asked about US President Donald Trump's proposed "peace deal," Odeh said: "We have here a program that the Americans built. A Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel is a historic compromise between the two nations which will bring peace, security, and economic prosperity to both sides."

"The plan is absolutely a mistake. How would such a state exist? Where would its economy come from? Ninety percent of the world's nations agree with me, they'll all say: 'Two states on the basis of the pre-1967 borders.

"Everyone knows what the fact is: [US Ambassador David] Friedman is helping [Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu to work against the immunity [discussions], bringing him one month before the elections, so why ignore it? They want to help Netanyahu because he's facing a trial. The real deal is between Trump and Netanyahu."