Labor MK Yossi Katz, Chairman of the Knesset Interior Committee, attempted again today to include Arab MK Taleb A-Sana on the committee to prepare a new bill regulating General Security Service activities - but his efforts were crowned with failure. A shouting match between Arab and other Knesset Members abruptly cut off the Committee session dealing with the issue. MK Benny Elon submitted an appeal of Katz\'s original decision, saying that A-Sana is not loyal to the State and is therefore disqualified from dealing with a GSS bill. The Arab MKs said that this was racism, and MK Barakeh said, \"Why don\'t you just pass a law that will remove us from the Knesset and get it over with?\" MK Ze\'ev Boim said, \"Don’t worry, we\'re doing that.\" In the end, A-Sana withdrew his own candidacy.
The Interior and Ethics Committees dealt afterwards with a request to remove the Parliamentary immunity of MK Azmi Bishara, following his anti-Israel speech in Damascus two days ago. Bishara said he is not afraid to sit in jail. \"They [the Israelis] forced us to take their citizenship, and now they want to take it away from us,\" he said. Interior Minister Eli Yeshai has asked approval from Attorney-General Elyakim Rubenstein to strip Bishara of citizenship. Yeshai told Arutz-7 today that Rubenstein must make the final decision because of Bishara\'s Parliamentary immunity.