HIGH COURT REVERSES ELECTION COMMITTEE BAN ON ARAB PARTIES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 000186 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR KDEM PHUM IS SUBJECT: HIGH COURT REVERSES ELECTION COMMITTEE BAN ON ARAB PARTIES PARTICIPATION IN GENERAL ELECTION ¶1. SUMMARY: Amidst growing tension between Israeli Jews and Arabs over hostilities in and around the Gaza Strip, two right-wing parties and a now-defunct centrist party successfully petitioned the Knesset's Central Elections Committee (CEC) to exclude two Israeli Arab political parties from contesting the upcoming elections. Members of the National Union, Yisrael Beiteinu and the one-time Shinu'i party charged that the Balad party and the United Arab List (or "Ra'am Ta'al") do not recognize Israel as a Jewish state and support the armed struggle against it. Voting to bar the two parties were a majority of the CEC including members of Labor, Kadima, Likud, and the right-wing and Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties. Legal experts correctly predicted that there would be little chance that the CEC's decision to disqualify the parties would be upheld by the High Court of Justice, which overturned the decision on January 21. Despite this decision, the interim success scored by the far-right, only three weeks from scheduled national elections, signals another phase in the ongoing debate as to how the State of Israel reconciles its Jewish identity with the democratic principles of equal social and political rights for all its inhabitants as laid down in its declaration of independence. Loyalty to the state and the meaning of citizenship have become central themes in the 2009 election scheduled for February 10. End Summary. -------------- BISHARA: A BRIDGE TOO FAR -------------- ¶2. In March 2007, Balad chairman and controversial Arab Knesset member Azmi Bishara abruptly departed Israel's political stage for what appeared to be self-imposed exile in a series of Arab capitals. His sudden departure amidst allegations of espionage and treason signaled the start of efforts among right-wing Israeli political parties to have Balad and its companion United Arab List (also referred to as Ra'am Ta'al) party banned from contesting the next elections. Bishara, with his impeccable Hebrew and intimate knowledge of Zionist history, antagonized the right while at the same time raising suspicion in various quarters that he was an agent of Israeli intelligence. Either way, from the moment of his "disappearance" the far-right in Israel moved to ensure that the Bishara phenomenon would not recur. -------------- --- THE BISHARA LAW: A SPRINGBOARD FOR A BROADER BAN -------------- --- ¶3. In June 2007, some three months after Bishara's departure from Israel and his resignation from the Knesset, Kadima MK Ruchama Avraham introduced a draft bill to be known as the "Bishara Law" that would deny pension and other benefits to former Knesset members convicted of criminal offences. The bill passed in preliminary reading and marked the first phase of a campaign designed in the longer term to deprive Arab MKs of the right to stand for election if they had visited an enemy state, as Bishara had done on many occasions in his trips to Syria. -------------- -------------- THE RIGHT AMENDS THE BASIC LAW AHEAD OF ELECTIONS -------------- -------------- ¶4. To date, Azmi Bishara has not returned to Israel. Nor has he been deprived of his Knesset pension. However, in June of 2008, a full year after the passage of the first phase of the Bishara law, and amidst much speculation as to the possibility of early elections, the right-wing parties revamped their draft of the Bishara law to bar any Israeli citizen who makes an unauthorized visit to enemy territory from serving in the legislature for seven years. To bring about this change, an amendment to the Basic Law on the Knesset was sought. Such amendments require a plenary majority of at least 61 members. When the new draft of the Bishara law came to the vote, in late June 2008, it was passed by a simple majority of 52 to 24. However, it did not obtain the absolute majority required to amend a Basic Law. -------------- THE POWER OF PRECENDENT -------------- ¶5. The precedent for today's High Court ruling overturning the CEC decision was set six years ago when the CEC barred Balad's then-chairman Azmi Bishara from contesting the 2003 elections. At that time, an 11-judge panel of the High Court ruled that in order to disqualify a political party it must be shown that it is working "on the ground" to achieve its aims and that a prohibited goal -- such as support of the armed struggle -- is that party's "governing" aim. The judges determined that disqualifying a party from participation in elections is an extreme step that limits both the right to vote and the right to stand for election -- both "constitutional rights of the first order." The 2003 High Court ruling also emphasized that the evidence submitted as proof of the existence of a prohibited goal must be "clear, persuasive and unambiguous." These criteria rendered the CEC's decision invalid TEL AVIV 00000186 002 OF 002 because it was found to be based on insufficient evidence that Balad, both as a party and in terms of its individual members, actually supported armed struggle by terrorist organizations against the State of Israel. ¶6. On January 19, Attorney General Meni Mazuz filed a brief with the High Court of Justice in which he noted that the CEC decision to disqualify the Arab parties was based on "flimsy evidence." Meanwhile, the political protagonists in the battle over Knesset representation engaged in verbal feuds outside the High Court, but had to sit together in front of the judges hearing the case. MK Tibi and fellow UAL MK Talab El-Sana reportedly castigated MK Lieberman for being a "fascist" (Tibi's term) immigrant who was attempting to deny (Arab) right to live and be represented. Lieberman reportedly called El-Sana a "terrorist representing terrorists" and threatened to pass a law "that sets the boundaries to disloyalty" - a threat that is captured in Lieberman's campaign slogans and billboards, one of which reads: "Without loyalty there can be no citizenship." -------------- A MINORITY WITH A MAJOR AGENDA -------------- ¶7. In its public condemnation of the CEC decision, the Mossawa Center (The Advocacy Center for the Arab Citizens of Israel) wrote that it perceived the decision "as part of an ongoing trend of political de-legitimization of the Arab community aimed towards dissuading any Arab voice from political decisions..." Mossawa notes that "the Arab community has a role in supporting domestic and regional peace" and that the CEC decision "alienates the Arab minority at a time when the state and the peace process most require their assistance." Balad MK Sa'id Nafaa said his party has a duty to what he calls its "hundreds of thousands of voters to ensure it is represented in the Knesset." -------------- DISQUALIFICATION OVERTURNED BY THE HIGH COURT -------------- ¶8. On January 21 - one day ahead of the deadline for a decision, the High Court revoked the decision of the CEC to exclude the two major Arab parties from the upcoming elections. Arab citizens of Israel represent some 20 percent of the population but their recent voter turnout in national elections has been low: In the last Knesset elections in 2006 only 56 percent of the Israeli Arab population participated. This compares dramatically with percentages in the high 70's and low 80's that characterized voter turnout until 2001, the watershed year in which 13 Israeli Arabs were shot dead by Israel Police in violent disturbances in the Israeli Arab town of Umm el Fahm. It remains to be seen whether the high levels of Arab participation in the November 2008 municipal elections (some 77 percent participation) combined with the failed bid to disqualify Arab parties will lead Arab voters to reverse their voting trends in general elections on February 10 or not. -------------- OPPOSED TO THE POLICY NOT THE STATE -------------- ¶9. Balad's current chairman, MK Jamal Zahalka, wrote to Attorney General Meni Mazuz on January 14 requesting the indictment of MK Avigdor Lieberman on charges of incitement to violence, genocide and racism. He hailed the January 21 High Court decision as "a victory for the Arab public and supporters of democracy." UAL faction leader and Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, MK Ahmed Tibi, refuted the charges leveled by Lieberman and the right-wing parties and has insisted that he "represents an opposition that is opposed to policy not to the state." Pushing the limits, only just tested in the Knesset and the High Court, UAL MK El-Sanaa announced on January 21 that he had requested permission from the Knesset to visit Gaza in order to appraise the damage and "gather evidence" in the Strip following Operation Cast Lead. "My visit will allow me to gather evidence... as a prelude to litigation at the Hague War Crimes Tribunal," El-Sanaa is quoted as saying in the Jerusalem Post. CUNNINGHAM