International   

Fury at Arab in Israeli Cabinet

Conal Urquhart

A lethal blow to Zionism: right-wingers

Raleb Majadele, first Arab Israeli Cabinet Minister

Tel Aviv: Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz and leader of the Labour party has appointed Israel's first Arab Cabinet Minister — and was accused of dealing a ``lethal blow to Zionism'' by rightwingers.

Raleb Majadele, a Labour member of the Knesset, was appointed Minister for Science and Technology, but critics in the Labour party believe that Mr. Peretz made the appointment to ensure that Arab members of the party support him in a leadership election.

Mr. Majadele replaces Ofir Pines Paz, a Labour MP who resigned over the appointment of Avigdor Lieberman, the head of the Israel Our Home party, as Deputy Prime Minister. Mr. Lieberman advocates removing Arabs from Israel.

Mr. Majadele said it would be difficult sitting at the same Cabinet table as Mr. Lieberman but hoped to overcome any problems. ``I believe this is a precedent that will be written in the history of Israeli society,'' he said.

Arabs make up around 20 per cent of the Israeli population but are under-represented in most professions. Esterina Tartman, chairwoman of Israel Our Home, told Israel radio that Mr. Majadele's appointment was a lethal blow to Zionism.

``Peretz is making a sacrifice of Zionism,'' she said. ``I call on the Prime Minister not to approve this appointment ... in order to protect the state of Israel's interest as a Jewish and Zionist state.'' Her comment were criticised as racist by members of the Knesset from all parties. —

© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Sri Lanka: 16 killed in landslips
Terror: Blair for hard military power
Scientists reconstruct Dante's face
Experiment suggests we may be Martians
Red Cross gets emblem option
David Beckham going places
Bush battles to shore up support
Fury at Arab in Israeli Cabinet
Citizen assessment
India invites Shaukat Aziz
Pakistan has given detailed plan on Siachen
Pranab raises PoW issue
Let Kashmiris shape their future: JKLF

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu