Palestine: Arab MKs File Complaint Against Netenyahu

Members of the Joint List alliance, Ayman Odeh, center, (File photo/Reuters)
Members of the Joint List alliance, Ayman Odeh, center, (File photo/Reuters)
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Palestine: Arab MKs File Complaint Against Netenyahu

Members of the Joint List alliance, Ayman Odeh, center, (File photo/Reuters)
Members of the Joint List alliance, Ayman Odeh, center, (File photo/Reuters)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to incite against Arab members of the Knesset, as several leaders of the Joint List have filed complaints with Knesset guards and police after receiving death threats.

However, Netanyahu was not deterred especially that he is trying his best to prevent the formation of a government led by Benny Gantz and supported by the Arab MKs.

Incitement amounted to the extent that Netanyahu said once such a government was established, it “will be celebrated in Tehran, Ramallah, in Gaza.”

Netanyahu said during four consecutive meetings that his statements are not directed at Arab citizens, but the deputies who call for the destruction of Israel and cooperate with its enemies against the Israeli army.

On Sunday evening, Netanyahu’s Likud party organized an “emergency rally” aimed at “stopping the dangerous minority government that is reliant on terror supporters.”

Speaking about Gantz, Netanyahu said he held coalition talks “with those same MKs who support terror organizations and want to destroy the country.”

The Joint List issued a statement condemning Netanyahu's vicious campaign against the Arab masses and their leaders and considered it an attempt to try and maintain his fragile position.

In recent days Netanyahu has crossed every line with his dangerous and wild incitement, said the statement, adding that the PM is spreading lies and claiming the Knesset members are terror supporters.

“The Arab community and its representatives are legitimate like every community,” the party says in a statement.

“We appeal to President Reuven Rivlin and the attorney general, Avichai Mandelblit, to take a stance against incitement, which has led to dozens of death threats against our members,” the statement adds.

A number of Arab MKs and members of the Joint List had received death threats, including leader Ayman Odeh and the head of its parliamentary bloc, Ahmed Tibi.

Kahol Lavan (Blue and White) issued a statement responding to Netanyahu saying he doesn’t care about Israel’s security, adding that residents in the south did not have an “emergency rally”, asserting that as usual, the PM only cares about himself.

Talking after a Kahol Lavan meeting in the Knesset, Gantz called on Netanyahu over his recent comments about the members of the common list: “I, too, have disagreements with members of the Joint List. I agree with them on some things and absolutely disagree on others. But the kind of lashing out we saw for the last two days has got to stop. You must, Netanyahu, recant immediately.”



Rights Defenders Denounce US Sanctions on UN Expert on Palestinians

UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo
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Rights Defenders Denounce US Sanctions on UN Expert on Palestinians

UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo
UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese gives a press conference at the UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark February 5, 2025. Ritzau Scanpix/Ida Marie Odgaard via REUTERS/File Photo

Human rights defenders rallied on Thursday to support the top UN expert on Palestinian rights, after the United States imposed sanctions on her over what it said was unfair criticism of Israel.

Italian lawyer Francesca Albanese serves as special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, one of dozens of experts appointed by the 47-member UN Human Rights Council to report on specific global issues.

She has long criticized Israeli treatment of the Palestinians, and this month published a report accusing over 60 companies, including some US firms, of supporting Israeli settlements in the West Bank and military actions in Gaza.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Wednesday Albanese would be added to the US sanctions list for work which had prompted what he described as illegitimate prosecutions of Israelis at the International Criminal Court.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk urged Washington to reverse course.

"Even in the face of fierce disagreement, UN Member States should engage substantively and constructively, rather than resort to punitive measures," he said, Reuters reported.

Juerg Lauber, the Swiss permanent representative to the UN who now holds the rotating presidency of the Human Rights Council, said he regretted the sanctions, and called on states to "refrain from any acts of intimidation or reprisal" against the body's experts.

Mariana Katzarova, who serves as the special rapporteur for human rights in Russia, said her concern was that other countries would follow the US lead.

"This is totally unacceptable and opens the gates for any other government to do the same," she told Reuters. "It is an attack on UN system as a whole. Member states must stand up and denounce this."

Russia has rejected Katzarova's mandate and refused to let her enter the country, but it has so far stopped short of publicly adding her to a sanctions list.

Washington has already imposed sanctions against officials at the International Criminal Court, which has issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister for suspected war crimes in Gaza. Another court, the International Court of Justice, is hearing a case brought by South Africa that accuses Israel of genocide.

Israel denies that its forces have carried out war crimes or genocide against Palestinians in the war in Gaza, which was precipitated by an attack by Hamas-led fighters in October 2023.

"The United States is working to dismantle the norms and institutions on which survivors of grave abuses rely," said Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch.

The group's former head, Kenneth Roth, called the US sanctions an attempt "to deter prosecution of Israeli war crimes and genocide in Gaza".

The United States, once one of the most active members of the Human Rights Council, has disengaged from it under President Donald Trump, alleging an anti-Israel bias.