Lieberman Proposes Security Barrier Around Arab MKs

“Arabs MKs from other parties will not be separated from the rest of us. The accusation of racism is baseless,” he insisted.

Jerusalem, July 9 – Yisrael Beiteinu Party leader Avigdor Lieberman submitted proposed legislation today to mandate an addition of the existing West Bank security barrier to separate the 13 members of the Arab Joint List from the other 107 parliamentarians.

Defense officials credit the separation barrier, which runs more or less along the 1948 armistice lines with Jordan, with preventing terrorist attacks. In places the barrier is an actual concrete wall, while elsewhere it relies on barbed wire or other materials to prevent infiltration from Palestinian areas. Lieberman proposed the construction of a new barrier to prevent the Joint List legislators from harming the others, noting that the Knesset has its share of terrorism sympathizers or deniers among the lawmakers from the four parties in that delegation.

“Two of the Joint List MKs have participated in flotillas to strengthen the terrorist organization Hamas, and one of them explicitly refused to categorize the abduction and murder of three boys a year ago as a terrorist act,” noted Lieberman. “In our midst we have a cadre of dangerous people, and we cannot simply sit here and allow the threat to persist.” While current laws endorse the presence of the duly elected Joint List delegates in the Knesset, Lieberman says the safety and security of others present must be taken into account.

“I’m not only concerned for my legislative colleagues, who face this threat every time we walk into this chamber,” said the former foreign minister, currently a member of the Opposition. “Hundreds of staffers, journalists, service workers, and other visitors are currently forced to walk around or sit with nothing at all between them and these ambassadors of death.” He denied racism was a factor in the proposal, and accused those who invoked the term of playing politics with the safety of the Knesset. “Arabs MKs from other parties will not be separated from the rest of us. The accusation of racism is baseless,” he insisted.

The bill in its current form calls for the Joint List members and their aides to be seated in a separate section of the plenum chamber, leading to a walled-off section of the building where those MKs will keep their offices. Armored gates would be placed at various points along the barrier, including one in the plenum chamber itself to be used when one of the Joint List MKs is called to the podium. Passage through the barrier would be coordinated with the Knesset security team, which will only allow passage if it is arranged at least three days in advance and approved by the Speaker of the Knesset.

Implementation of the Knesset barrier would most likely not take place until next year, given budgetary and technical obstacles, but a Yisrael Beiteinu representative noted that the separation barrier along the Green Line has taken years to build. “In the meantime, we can make do with a contingent of armed guards surrounding the Arab MKs to protect us,” said Sofa Landver. “Also, maybe we should have separate drinking fountains for them.”