Chairman of the Joint List, MK Ayman Odeh (Hadash), strongly condemned far-right Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu following the report in Haaretz on Wednesday, February 6, that it was Netanyahu who initially proposed transferring the Arab communities of the “Triangle Region” in northern Israel to “Palestinian” control, and his proposal became part of the Trump administration’s “Deal of the Century.”

Knesset members from the Joint List, other political leaders and hundreds of regular citizens protest against Trump’s “Deal of the Century” in Baqa al-Gharbiyye, last Saturday, February 1. (Photo: Al Ittihad)

“Netanyahu’s racist proposal proves that his hatred for Arabs far exceeds his love for champagne and cigars,” Odeh said with not a little sarcism. According to the Hadash lawmaker, “The dangerous attempt to cancel the citizenship of 400,000 Arab citizens, born in this homeland, sends a clear message to us all. ‘You are not welcome here and your turn will come in the next plan.'”

According to Haaretz, it was as early as 2017, during one of the early visits to Israel by Jared Kushner, the US president’s special envoy to the region and his son in law, that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu first suggested to officials from the then new Trump administration the idea of transferring the cities and towns of Israel’s “Triangle Region” to “Palestinian” control. It was in this manner that the racist and criminal proposal ultimately became part of the text of the “Deal of the Century.”

The Prime Minister’s Office has not denied the report in Haaretz.

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