An Israeli lawmaker called for a recently appointed Arab Cabinet minister to undergo security checks. Aryeh Eldad of the right-wing National Union recently wrote to the Shin Bet security service demanding that it vet Science, Culture and Sports Minister Ghaled Majadla, Ma’ariv revealed Sunday.
According to Eldad, Majadla may not be fit to handle the science portfolio, which touches on matters of Israeli national security. The Shin Bet had no immediate comment, but Majadla, a member of the center-left Labor Party, rejected the suspicions leveled against him.
“Knesset Member Aryeh Eldad’s racist ideas have no place in Israeli public life,” he said. It was not immediately clear what Eldad’s security concerns are, as the Science Ministry does not oversee nuclear projects or military endeavors.
Hezbollah played down speculation that a new war with Israel is imminent. Sheik Naim Kassem, deputy chief of the Lebanese militia, said Sunday that he does not think Israeli forces are ready for a repeat of last year’s war. “I don’t think we can expect an Israeli attack imminently,” Kassem told the Spanish newspaper El-Mundo. “Its army is still shaken by the defeat it suffered, But we are not asleep. Our military capacity is ready.”
Asked about the nuclear program of Iran, Hezbollah’s sponsor, Kassem predicted a U.S. military intervention. “Judging by the attitude we see in the Americans and how they are preparing themselves in the area, I believe an attack is probable, but I don’t think Israel will take part. It doesn’t have the capacity,” he said.
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