MKs Uri Ariel and Aryeh Eldad, both of the National Union party - Ariel is of Tekumah, and Eldad from Moledet - have submitted proposed legislation barring life-long terrorists from entering or being buried in Israel. The bill does not distinguish between the two sides of the Green Line, which is the demarcation between Judea/Samaria/Gaza and the rest of the country.
The bill's introduction states, "PA Chairman Yasser Arafat was involved his whole life in terrorism against the State of Israel and its citizens. Arafat leads terrorist organizations, and is responsible for the murder of thousands of Israelis. In recent years, the State of Israel defined him as the head of a terrorism-supporting entity. He recently gave shelter to wanted terrorists in his abode in Ramallah, including terrorists with blood on their hands."
The bill specifically forbids Arafat from being buried anywhere in Israel. "Because of his disease," the bill reads, "the State of Israel allowed Arafat to leave for the sake of medical treatment. This bill requests a ban on his return to Israel or to the Palestinian Authority areas, whether to stay or to pass through. The bill also wishes to prevent his burial in these areas, lest the site turn into a pilgrimage attraction, a symbol, and a source of inspiration for the war against Israel's existence."
MK Ran Cohen (Meretz/Yachad) called for Eldad's removal from the Knesset Ethics Committee, in light of what Cohen called Eldad's "racist" bill. Eldad said in response that the left-wing had once again shown its hypocrisy: "Expelling Arabs is racism, while the expulsion of Jews is OK?"
The bill's introduction states, "PA Chairman Yasser Arafat was involved his whole life in terrorism against the State of Israel and its citizens. Arafat leads terrorist organizations, and is responsible for the murder of thousands of Israelis. In recent years, the State of Israel defined him as the head of a terrorism-supporting entity. He recently gave shelter to wanted terrorists in his abode in Ramallah, including terrorists with blood on their hands."
The bill specifically forbids Arafat from being buried anywhere in Israel. "Because of his disease," the bill reads, "the State of Israel allowed Arafat to leave for the sake of medical treatment. This bill requests a ban on his return to Israel or to the Palestinian Authority areas, whether to stay or to pass through. The bill also wishes to prevent his burial in these areas, lest the site turn into a pilgrimage attraction, a symbol, and a source of inspiration for the war against Israel's existence."
MK Ran Cohen (Meretz/Yachad) called for Eldad's removal from the Knesset Ethics Committee, in light of what Cohen called Eldad's "racist" bill. Eldad said in response that the left-wing had once again shown its hypocrisy: "Expelling Arabs is racism, while the expulsion of Jews is OK?"