Amid a wave of Arab terrorism, the head of Israel’s Arab-majority Joint List party Ayman Odeh caused an uproar Sunday when he told Arab Israelis serving in the security forces to revolt and lay down their arms, because they were “humiliating” their own people.
The lawmaker’s comments, broadcast in a Ramadan video posted from the flashpoint Damascus Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City, resulted in the police contacting the State Attorney’s Office to check whether there was cause to accuse Odeh of incitement to violence.
Odeh (pictured) also said it was his ultimate goal to see the Palestinian flag flying over Jerusalem.
“Young Palestinians with Israeli citizenship have told me that they are being harmed and humiliated. It is important for me to tell you from here, the Damascus Gate, that it is a humiliation for one of our sons to join the security forces,” Odeh said in the video.
Arab Israelis who join the Israeli security forces were “humiliating our people, humiliating our families and humiliating everyone who comes to pray in the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
“Our historical position is that we will be with our people to end the murderous occupation so that the state of Palestine will be established and Palestinian flags will be hoisted on the walls of Jerusalem,” he said.
The aunt of the Palestinian terrorist responsible for a shooting attack that killed five people in a Tel Aviv suburb last week spoke openly of her support for him, stating she was “happy” he became a martyr. https://t.co/W9SL0qdth7
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) April 5, 2022
To those Arab Israelis already in the force, Odeh urged to “throw the weapons in their faces.”
“Tell them that our place is not with you. We will not be part of the injustice and the crime,” he said
Arab Israelis had to be a part of the “Palestinian Arab people, and in a just war to bring an end to the criminal occupation,” he went on.
MKs in the opposition Likud party, led by former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, called for Odeh to be imprisoned.
“Ayman Odeh’s call for Muslim police officers to throw down their weapons, at a time when Israel is in the midst of a battle against terror from within and without, is serious incitement that could lead to violence against the officers and harm to the security of the nation,” tweeted former finance minister Israel Katz. “Odeh’s place is not in the Knesset but in jail.”
“In a just world this man would be arrested tonight and tried quickly,” said former Likud police minister Amir Ohana.
The country is in the throes of a terror wave, with four deadly attacks in two week, claiming 14 lives.
Palestinians in multiple cities came out to celebrate a shooting attack by a terrorist in a Tel Aviv suburb on Tuesday evening. https://t.co/q9uTOd59er
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) March 30, 2022
Among those killed was Arab Israeli police officer Amir Khoury, who was hailed as a “hero of Israel” after he died in a shootout with the Palestinian terrorist who carried out the deadliest attack, in Bnei Brak last Tuesday.
Rahat Mayor Faiz Abu Sahiban rejected Odeh’s statements, telling KAN Reshet Bet the MK “lives in an entirely different republic.”
“He needs to support this government. He also needs to help the Arab population that is bleeding out. There’s no other way,” Sahiban said, according to the Jerusalem Post.
Public Security Minister Omer Bar Lev called Odeh’s statements “outrageous, dangerous and irresponsible.”
“The service of Israeli Arabs in the police is a symbol of coexistence and integration,” said Bar Lev. “The late Amir Khoury is an Israeli hero. He was an Arab-Israeli. Amir is a symbol of coexistence and integration. Police officers from Arab society are an important part of the police in the fight against crime and terrorism, and this trend will continue to intensify.”
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