The Arab Balad party warns against the revival of political debate in Israel over civil service for Arab citizens of Israel.
In a statement, quoted by the news site Al-Jarmak, Balad said the renewed discussion of "civil service" comes alongside what former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced as a "recruitment program for everyone."
Balad emphasized that the "civil service" project, or its other name the "national service", represents a deviation from the "traditional political consensus" adopted by Palestinian forces and institutions in Israel, foremost among them the Higher Follow-Up Committee and the National Committee of Arab Local Authority Heads.
According to Balad, the civil service constitutes a means of "Israelization" of Arab youth, as well as an attempt to sever them from their Palestinian national identity, and in essence it has a "political and security character", even if it is presented as civil.
Balad's statement stressed that rights cannot be conditioned on "loyalty or service to institutions", and that the rights of Palestinians in Israel are based on their status as indigenous residents of the land and citizens, not on "favor" from Israeli institutions.
Balad expressed support for volunteer projects and social solidarity, provided they operate within the framework of an "independent national principle", and not through Israeli institutions or projects linked to the official institutions of the State of Israel.