Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin appealed to Israel’s 750,000 Arab citizens Wednesday not to be drawn into violence and disregard for the law by agitators and extremists.
Addressing them in a Knesset speech, Rabin declared, “For a generation you have stood with honor in the ongoing test of loyalty to the state. You have been part of us. . . Remain faithful now, and enjoy a peaceful life.”
Rabin’s speech, intended both to caution and reassure the Arab population, had the opposite effect on several Arab Knesset members. When he warned the Palestinians, “in the distant past you underwent a tragedy, it is best for you and for us too that you not allow it to be repeated,” the Arab M.K.s rose and shouted in protest.
Tawfik Toubi, of the Rakah Communist Party, accused Rabin of “threatening us with expulsion. . . But that will never be,” he exclaimed. “We are legally entitled to protest the crimes being committed in the occupied areas.”
A continuing uproar in the chamber led to the removal of Knesset member Mohammed Miari of the Progressive List for Peace.
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