Middle East affairs expert Prof. Dan Shiftan of Haifa University said that disqualifying an Arab list because of its anti-Israeli stance is not the best option from a political standpoint:
"If [Balad party leader Arab MK Azmi Bishara] is disqualified, he will immediately take his traveling circus all around the world, showing the world that he's a victim of an Israeli witch-hunt, and all Jew-haters, especially from Europe, will have a field day… I think there are other means: He should be boycotted in the Knesset every time he gets up to speak, as they did with [the late Rabbi Meir] Kahane when he was an MK. Everyone who does not agree with him - that is, everyone who is not interested in the destruction of the State of Israel - should get up and leave when he speaks… This should occur in other public institutions as well… This would be much more effective than to prevent him from running for the Knesset when he in fact represents over a million Arabs in Israel."
Arutz-7's Ariel Kahane asked, "Isn't this a case where a democracy must protect itself and not allow those who want its destruction to [gain strength]?" Shiftan said that on the contrary, it must defend itself, but should do so in the most efficient manner:
"If we outlaw Bishara, then tomorrow someone else will arise and say the same things, but in a more subtle manner so that we won't be able to outlaw him, and we'll be back in the same situation… The Zionist parties must blacklist him totally, not cooperate with him, neither in the coalition nor in the opposition - for instance, Labor did an outright favor to [Arab MK] Hashem Mahmeed - whose stance against Israel is the same as Bishara's, but just more subtly expressed - by allowing him to represent them on the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Such a thing should never have happened."
Asked what could be done about the anti-Israel feelings of the Arab community, Shiftan said,
"Not much. The entire Arab world has become very extremist in its anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli positions, and the screening of 'Horseman Without a Head' in Egypt is merely the tip of the iceberg regarding what's going on there. I think that the only thing we can do now is to try to show the Jewish community what they're dealing with…"
"If [Balad party leader Arab MK Azmi Bishara] is disqualified, he will immediately take his traveling circus all around the world, showing the world that he's a victim of an Israeli witch-hunt, and all Jew-haters, especially from Europe, will have a field day… I think there are other means: He should be boycotted in the Knesset every time he gets up to speak, as they did with [the late Rabbi Meir] Kahane when he was an MK. Everyone who does not agree with him - that is, everyone who is not interested in the destruction of the State of Israel - should get up and leave when he speaks… This should occur in other public institutions as well… This would be much more effective than to prevent him from running for the Knesset when he in fact represents over a million Arabs in Israel."
Arutz-7's Ariel Kahane asked, "Isn't this a case where a democracy must protect itself and not allow those who want its destruction to [gain strength]?" Shiftan said that on the contrary, it must defend itself, but should do so in the most efficient manner:
"If we outlaw Bishara, then tomorrow someone else will arise and say the same things, but in a more subtle manner so that we won't be able to outlaw him, and we'll be back in the same situation… The Zionist parties must blacklist him totally, not cooperate with him, neither in the coalition nor in the opposition - for instance, Labor did an outright favor to [Arab MK] Hashem Mahmeed - whose stance against Israel is the same as Bishara's, but just more subtly expressed - by allowing him to represent them on the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Such a thing should never have happened."
Asked what could be done about the anti-Israel feelings of the Arab community, Shiftan said,
"Not much. The entire Arab world has become very extremist in its anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli positions, and the screening of 'Horseman Without a Head' in Egypt is merely the tip of the iceberg regarding what's going on there. I think that the only thing we can do now is to try to show the Jewish community what they're dealing with…"