Deputy Interior Minister Yaron Mazuz (Likud) caused an uproar in the Knesset on Wednesday, June 24, when he remarked, during a discussion on the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law, that the State of Israel was “doing Arabs a favor by giving them ID cards.” Mazuz’s remarks were aimed at Hadash MK Aida Touma-Sliman (Joint List). He refused to apologize, and said: “Anyone who supports terrorism won’t be here.” Several Arab and Jewish MKs called out “Shame on you!” but Mazuz was unfazed and turned to the Speaker of the Knesset, Yuli Edelstien, telling him “Send them out, ingrates.” The session then deteriorated into an array of yelling and furor, causing the discussion to be brought to a halt.
MK Aida Touma-Sliman during a debate in the Knesset (Photo: Al Ittihad)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu then took the podium, saying: “All citizens of Israel, Jews and non-Jews, have a right to vote and be elected. However every citizen has the duty to obey the laws of the land. No one has the right to blame IDF soldiers of war crimes,” MK Touma-Sliman responded to Netanyahu, saying, “The prime minister has stepped up to the podium to justify this incitement; it’s shameful … a government built on rampant incitement.”
Casino entrepreneur and Likud MK Oren Hazan shouted at Touma-Sliman: “It’s shameful that you are here,” while Culture Minister Miri Regev joined in, calling out from her seat: “Anyone who gets on a flotilla should turn in their ID card.” MK Touma-Sliman responded: “No one is doing me a favor giving me an ID card after I was elected by the public … The prime minister is justifying incitement against us. Shame on him,” she said. “I am a native of this land. My father was born here before the founding of the state. No one is doing me a favor by giving me an ID card.”
The racist Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law is a temporary provision, first approved by the Knesset on July 31, 2003. This provision authorizes the government to extend the provision annually, which it has done every year since, while adding amendments to it. The law prohibits citizens of certain countries (the Palestinian Authority, Iran, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan, Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, and Yemen) from automatically receiving Israeli citizenship after marrying an Israeli national. MK Touma-Suliman’s proposed legislation, which was meant to repeal the extension of the citizenship law, was rejected by a majority of 55 against 18 in favor, with two abstentions. A similar proposal, introduced by Meretz leader Zehava Galon, was also rejected, with 54 against, 17 for, and two abstentions.
Many opposition MKs were not present in the plenum at the time of the vote some of them, including “Opposition” Chairman Yitzhak Herzog (Zionist Union), choosing not to participate. Thee Zionist Union MKs sat out the votes and did not participate in the shouting or the heckling, which sparked the ire of Meretz, which threatened not to support a Zionist Union-initiated vote later Wednesday on forming a parliamentary commission of inquiry on discrimination against Ethiopian-Israelis. Soon afterwards, MK Eitan Cabel (Zionist Union) took the podium to express disgust at what Mazuz said, but took issue with Meretz’s outrage, saying that his party and Meretz agree on a lot of matters, but not on everything, saying he does not support the bill Galon introduced, and doesn’t think he deserves to be shamed for it this.
MK Aida Touma-Sliman, responded on Facebook to the racist comment of Likud MK and Deputy Interior Minister Mazuz. She wrote: “My citizenship comes from the fact that I am a member of the indigenous people. My father was born here, in this country, even before the establishment of the state. No one is doing me a favor giving me citizenship. The prime minister, Netanyahu, instead of distancing himself from the incitement by the deputy interior minister, continues the racist line of ‘Arabs coming to ballot stations in droves.’ At the end of the day, Arabs and Jews will live here together in equality despite the incitement to racism.”
