VZCZCXRO1721
RR RUEHROV
DE RUEHTV #0186/01 0211724
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 211724Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0147
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE

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