Arutz-7's Dalia HaLevy probed into the Arabic-language website of MK Azmi Bishara's Balad party, also known as the National Democratic Assembly (NDA). NDA's platform negates the Declaration of The Establishment of The State of Israel, which defines "the natural right of the Jewish people to be masters of their own fate, like all other nations, in their own sovereign State."
Excerpts from the NDA website:
The party's English website states:
In a related development, the Central Elections Committee decided Tuesday not to disqualify the another Arab party, Raam-Taal, from running in the coming election. Several MKs and others had petitioned the committee to ban the party because party chairman Sheikh Ibrahim Sarsour said that Israel should be replaced by an Islamic state.
Elections Committee Chairperson Justice Dorit Beinish ruled that such statements are "unpleasant to hear," but do not mandate the party's disqualification. "The right to be elected is the most fundamental right in a democratic regime," she said. "A decision to ban a party must be based on factual material, and not just on media reports. Some of that which we have heard here is not pleasant for any of our ears, but the standard by which to disqualify a party must be very high."
Excerpts from the NDA website:
"Balad works for the nullification of the Jewish-Zionist character of the State of Israel, which sees itself as a Jewish state and not an Arab-Jewish state.
"Balad... waves the banner of the right to turn Israel into a state of all its citizens, which objects to racism, and has total equality between Arabs and Jews. The door is open for activity for a comprehensive democratic humanitarian solution, i.e., a bi-national state in all of historic Palestine."
The party's English website states:
"The government prioritizes the needs of the Jewish majority, since Israel defines itself as a Jewish state, not a state for all its citizens. The NDA believes that full citizenship and minority rights will only be realized in a democratic state for all its citizens.
"Party Aims And Objectives: ...To struggle to transform the state of Israel into a democracy for all its citizens, irrespective of national or ethnic identity."
In a related development, the Central Elections Committee decided Tuesday not to disqualify the another Arab party, Raam-Taal, from running in the coming election. Several MKs and others had petitioned the committee to ban the party because party chairman Sheikh Ibrahim Sarsour said that Israel should be replaced by an Islamic state.
Elections Committee Chairperson Justice Dorit Beinish ruled that such statements are "unpleasant to hear," but do not mandate the party's disqualification. "The right to be elected is the most fundamental right in a democratic regime," she said. "A decision to ban a party must be based on factual material, and not just on media reports. Some of that which we have heard here is not pleasant for any of our ears, but the standard by which to disqualify a party must be very high."