Raleb Majadele, Israeli Minister without Portfolio.
It took 59 years, but Israel has a Muslim Arab minister in its government, its first. That would be Raleb Majadele, 53, a member of the Labor party and since January 28, 2007, a minister without portfolio.
But he said in an interview that he refuses to sing Israel's national anthem, Hatikva. "Of course I would not sing the anthem in its current form. But before we talk about symbols, I want to talk about equal education for my children. It's more important that my son would be able to buy a house, live with dignity. the Arabs are not in a mood to sing right now." He said he expresses respect for the national anthem by standing whenever it is sung. "To the best of my knowledge, the law does not require me to sing the anthem, but to honor it. I fail to understand how an enlightened, sane Jew allows himself to ask a Muslim person with a different language and culture, to sing an anthem that was written for Jews only."
Comment: Majadele's attitude is in keeping with the anti-Zionist temper of the times among Arabs in Israel and can be expected to get stronger as even establishment figures like himself express it - and are allowed to get away with it. (March 17, 2007)
Mar. 10, 2008 update: A year later and Majadele has gone from minister without portfolio to minister of culture and sport. He is back in the news for his comments in the aftermath of the Palestinian terrorist attack on the Mercaz Harav yeshiva. Arutz 7 paraphrases his saying that
if soccer teams plan to honor the memories of the eight young Jewish students slain by a terrorist in Jerusalem last week with a moment of silence, they should honor the memories of innocent women and children killed in IDF operations in Gaza as well. In an interview with Kol Israel radio, Majadele said that Arab citizens of Israel are upset by "what the State of Israel is doing in the [Gaza] Strip," and called to treat the dead in Gaza and those killed in the Jerusalem attack equally.
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