Iran's Representative in the Knesset - Haneen Zuabi

Haneen Zuabi of the Balad party.

With a new parliament about to be sworn in in Israel, one member to watch is Haneen Zuabi (also spelled Hanin Zoabi or Zu'abi) of the Balad party. Her lesser distinction is as the first woman to represent an Arab party in the Knesset. Her greater distinction is as the voice piece for the Islamic Republic of Iran. Some of her comments, according to Samuel Sokol in the Jerusalem Post:

• The very concept of a Jewish state is "inherently racist." Israel must be turned into a "state of all its citizens," eliminating its Jewish or Zionist nature.

• Iran's role in Palestinian affairs is "more useful" than that of regimes like Jordan and Egypt, in that Iran stands more firmly "against occupation than a lot of the Arab countries." Egypt and Jordan, indeed, are scared of a free and democratic Palestinian state.

• It's not a good idea for Israel to be the region's sole nuclear power. "It would be more supporting me to have a [nuclear] counter-power to Israel. I need something to balance [its] power."

• Is she worrying about Tehran getting close to acquiring a nuclear weapon? "No, I am not." To the contrary, said is "more afraid from the Israeli nuclear [weapons]."

• Would the Israel Defense Forces use nuclear weapons? "The Israelis? I think yes. And I am afraid from real risk rather than from potential risk." More broadly, whereas the Iranian bomb is only "a potential" threat, the IDF is an actual danger. "Every day the Israeli [army] uses its violence, army violence."

• Israel is an aggressor state, so only something along the lines of Mutually Assured Destruction would restrain it.

• Would an Iranian bomb make Washington nervous, lead to more U.S. pressure on Israel, and that would be good thing? "Exactly."

Comment: Haneen Zuabi sitting in the same Knesset in which Avigdor Lieberman has a leadership role should make for a dramatic confrontation, given Lieberman's special focus on disloyal statements by parliamentarians. (March 31, 2009)

Apr. 3, 2009 update: Zuabi protests the interview with her in a letter to the editor, but I see little difference between what she is quoted as saying and what she insists she really said.

June 3, 2010 update: My comment above about Zuabi being a Knesset "member to watch" proved prescient. She joined the "Free Gaza" flotilla last week and on return to Israel not only met with an inquiry by the interior minister to revoke her citizenship but she prompted a near-brawl in the parliamentary chamber.

July 13, 2010 update: The Knesset, Israel's unicameral house, voted today 34-16 to strip Zuabi of some minor parliamentary privileges – subsidized legal counsel in certain criminal proceedings, a diplomatic passport, and privileges on foreign travel – because of her role on the Mavi Marmara ship. The Jerusalem Post describes Zuabi as sitting "in silence with a slight smile across her lips through much of the debate" about her.

Aug. 11, 2010 update: Contrary to her claims of ignorance, a video has come to light that proves Zuabi knew full well that some of her fellow-travelers on the Turkish flotilla in May 2010 were armed; indeed, she is seen standing right by some of them armed with metal pipes.

Nov. 15, 2010 update: In an unusual move, the dean of students at Haifa University, Prof. Yoav Lavie, banned a Balad political event today because Zuabi was to participate in it. He justified this step on the grounds of (1) her presence on the Mavi Marmara, where she participated when terrorists made plans to attack Israeli soldiers and (2) that "the student cells were planning to take advantage of the [Balad] event to carry out violence that could lead to bloodshed."

Nov. 16, 2010 update: Zuabi did, in the end, speak at Haifa University on the topic of democracy as protesters waved the Israeli flag.

Apr. 13, 2011 update: Ever tempting fate, Zuabi has called on Palestinians to start a wave of violence (intifada) against Israel: "I hope that they will start a large popular struggle that is political and strategic, similar to the first Intifada and not the second."

Jan. 20, 2012 update: In a raid of the Hamas office in Tulkarm in December, Israeli soldiers found a picture of Zuabi laughing casually during a meeting with four other people who included two top Hamas officials (Aziz Dweik, speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, and Maryam Saleh, former women's affairs "minister" in the Hamas government), both of whom have served prison sentences in Israel.

Haneen Zuabi, an Israeli MP, enjoys her time with the Hamas leadership.

Zuabi responded to the discovery of the picture, saying: "I don't see anything wrong with [the meeting]. Hamas was elected in democratic elections and it represents the Palestinian people. The whole world recognizes Hamas. Therefore, it's about time that Israel also recognizes it and sits down with its leaders. The main terror is not done by Hamas, rather by the occupation."

The photograph prompted responses to disqualify Zoabi from running again for parliament and to open a criminal investigation.

Jan. 24, 2012 update: In response to Zuabi writing the foreword a vicious anti-Israel screed (Palestinians in Israel: Segregation, Discrimination and Democracy by Ben White), MP Danny Danon (a rising star in the Likud party) commented that "Arab MKs are competing among themselves to see who is more radical and who can hurt Israel more. Israeli democracy must take proactive measures to defend itself from the enemy within, The place of MK Zoabi is not in the Israeli Knesset but behind bars."

Danon's petition against Zuabi.

Oct. 3, 2012 update: MP Danny Danon, has requested Israel's Central Elections Committee to disqualify Zuabi from running in the next election on the grounds that she "used her [parliamentary] immunity in order to support a terror action that attempted to kill IDF soldiers," in the Mavi Marmara incident. "A person like that has no place in the Knesset. She belongs in jail."

Nov. 1, 2012 update: Danon has posted a petition at World Likud to void Zuabi's Knesset candidacy, accusing her of having "crossed red lines during her tenure in the Knesset." In return, Zuabi filed a lawsuit against Danon, accusing him of incitement.

Dec. 2, 2012 update: I am in Nazareth today and noted this unusual campaign ad for Zuabi: "Haneen Zuabi: Oh, devoted daughter of Nazareth, Your people defend you."

Zuabi campaign ad for the January 2013 Knesset elections.

The same billboard was in several places around town.

Another Zuabi billboard in Nazareth.

She also benefits from an informal campaign, such as this graffito on a house in Nazareth.

An anonymous scribbler hails Haneen Zuabi.

Dec. 20, 2012 update: Israel's Central Elections Committee has disqualified Zuabi from running in the January 2013 Knesset elections by 17-7 following a heated seven-hour debate. The decision must now be confirmed by a nine-justice panel of the High Court of Justice before it can take effect.

Dec. 27, 2012 update: Israel's Left has rallied to Zuabi's support. Steven Plaut provides details:

A large petition appears in the Israeli press today under the caption, "Not for Jews Alone." It is a solidarity petition with Zoabi and a protest against her having been banned from running for election. It is also a smear campaign against Israeli non-leftist public figures. It is signed by a gaggle of tenured extremists plus some other prominent leftists.

He notes the Left's inconsistency (why absolute freedom of speech for Zuabi but not for Meir Kahane's followers?) and then profiles a number of the signatories.

Dec. 30, 2012 update: Overturning the Central Elections Committee decision to disqualify Zuabi's candidacy, a nine-judge panel of Israel's High Court of Justice unanimously decided today to reinstate her.

Zoabi responded: "I expected such a decision; it looks like there was just no legal basis to justify my disqualification. I was subject to ridiculous political persecution [and] the High Court made the right and proper decision."

Yariv Levin, a Likud member of parliament noted sardonically that "Supreme Court justices will only realize that Zoabi needs to be removed from the Knesset after she blows herself up inside the building," while the joint Likud-Yisrael Beytenu campaign promised to change the law so that the court does not have the final say in parliamentary eligibility.

Jan. 24, 2013 update: Zuabi did get re-elected on the Balad party list in Israel's elections two days ago but her aggressive anti-Zionism has become a liability for the Arab members of Knesset. In contrast to two decades ago, when Yitzhak Rabin formed a government dependent on Arab support, the star of this election, Yair Lapid, has flat-out stated "I will not form a bloc that has Hanin Zoabi in it." In short, Zuabi's antics assured Binyamin Netanyahu his re-election as prime minister of Israel.

Related Topics:  Arab-Israel conflict & diplomacy, Iran, Israel & Zionism, Palestinians receive the latest by email: subscribe to daniel pipes' free mailing list This text may be reposted or forwarded so long as it is presented as an integral whole with complete and accurate information provided about its author, date, place of publication, and original URL.