Headlines, Human Rights, Middle East & North Africa, Press Freedom

MIDEAST: Secrecy Surrounds Probe of Arab-Israeli Lawmaker

Eli Clifton

WASHINGTON, Apr 20 2007 (IPS) - The Israeli leader of an Arab-nationalist political party is under investigation, but an Israeli magistrate has put a ban on detailing in the Israeli media just what charges he faces.

Azmi Bishara, an Arab-Israeli member of the Knesset and leader of the Balad party, was outside of Israel when news of the probe was leaked and he has not stated when or if he intends to return.

The investigation – which allegedly hinges on serious security infractions – and the secrecy surrounding it have resulted in an ethnic and political malaise.

Ma’an, an independent Palestinian news service, offered explicit and seemingly reliable information suggesting that Bishara is under investigation for receiving five million dollars passed to him by two money changers in Jerusalem and for communicating with Hezbollah representatives during the war in Lebanon.

Hebrew and Arabic language Israeli newspapers have given unprecedented coverage to the secret investigation and Bishara’s stated fear of arrest if he returns to Israel.

The mention of an investigation into security infractions by an Arab-Israeli politician has fanned existing tensions between Arab and Jewish Israelis after the Israeli-Lebanon war in August and September last year.

Jewish-Israelis have expressed increasing fear of Arab radicalisation within Israel and Arab-Israelis have grown concerned about a possible crackdown on their freedom of speech.

Some Arab-Israelis have claimed that the investigation into Bishara is an attempt by the government to silence voices of opposition to Israeli policies, while Jewish-Israelis have taken the news as confirmation of suspicions some may hold about the Arab communities in Israel.

“There has been a tendency in right-wing Jewish circles to regard political dissent as a threat to Israel’s national security,” Philip Wilcox, president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace and former U.S. Consul General in Jerusalem, told IPS.

Before the investigation was leaked, rumours were emerging that Bishara might be about to resign, but Bishara’s party has denied such stories.

Bishara has remained largely silent since news of the investigation emerged, remaining in Amman, Jordan, claiming to be promoting his new book.

Born to Palestinian Christian parents in Nazareth, Bishara has served in the Knesset since 1996 and in 1999 became the first Arab citizen of Israel to run for prime minister.

“My sense is that based on his past performance he’s stayed away from any violence and criminal activity,” said Wilcox.

Bishara has generally received favourable treatment by the international Arab media, leading some to speculate that he might be a possible future president of Palestine.

His party has hit back against the security services, saying that the Israeli government was persecuting the party because of its opposition to Israeli military actions against Lebanon and that, “This will not shake Balad from its beliefs, including those of a ‘nation for all its citizens’,” said an Apr. 9 statement.

Internet news sites have published a continuous stream of rumours regarding whether Bishara will resign, the status of the investigation and whether Bishara intends to return to Israel.

Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli prime minister and leader of the conservative Likud party, said it would be best if Bishara did not return. Effi Eitam of the National Union party asked the Knesset foreign affairs and defence committee to investigate whether Bishara had left the country permanently and if it was related to a police investigation into his visit to Lebanon and Syria last summer.

Bishara has been targeted for his politics in the past: in 2001 the Knesset stripped Bishara’s parliamentary immunity so he could stand trial for his political speeches in which he supported “resistance”, which some have perceived as a support of violence, but the Supreme Court dismissed the charges against him in February 2006.

The new investigation however is security related and not directly linked to his political statements.

Bishara was reportedly questioned by police twice in March but permitted to leave the country later that month to appear as a commentator on the Arab League summit for Al Jazeera satellite news network in Qatar.

Bishara returned to Israel on Apr. 5 to attend a wedding before leaving for Amman.

On April 15, he gave an interview to Al Jazeera in Qatar in which he expressed a fear of being arrested if he returned to Israel and stated his intention to quit the Knesset.

The controversy around Bishara comes as recent statements from Israeli officials have expressed deep mistrust of Arab-Israelis.

Yuval Diskin, director of Shin Bet, the Israeli domestic security service, was quoted in March as saying that Arab-Israelis are a “strategic threat” to the state of Israel.

Haaretz reports that the prime minister’s office sent a letter to the Balad party’s journal threatening that Shin Bet “will thwart the activity of any group or individual seeking to harm the Jewish and democratic character of the state of Israel, even if such activity is sanctioned by the law.”

Bishara is seen by many moderates as a valuable voice because he acknowledges both the importance of the Holocaust and the injustice of Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.

“There’s a dilemma in Israel. Israel defines itself as a Jewish and democratic state. There is fear among some Israelis that if democracy is accorded to all its citizens this will attenuate Israel’s character as a Jewish state. So there’s that built-in tension between democracy and a Jewish state,” said Wilcox.