Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman has called for boycotting Arab citizens in Israel, for organizing protests against US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Lieberman told Israeli TV Channel 2: “We have to boycott Um Al-Fahm and Wadi Ara [Israeli cities with a majority of Arab residents] in order to let them feel it is not desired for them to be here.”
Lieberman added: “I have said several times that these people are not loyal to the State of Israel and they do not have any relationship with the state.”
He continued: “I am calling for all the citizens to stop entering the shops in Wadi Ara and to stop shopping from Um Al-Fahm. You must let them feel they are not desired. We have to boycott them. Their place is not here, but in Ramallah.”
The extreme, right-wing minister also said: “Wadi Ara must be part of Ramallah in any potential permanent reconciliation.”
Previously, Lieberman has called for taking Um Al-Fahm out of Israel and annexing it to the Palestinian Authority-dominated area in return for annexing major settlements in the West Bank to Israel.
In February he said at a conference in Munich: “There is no reason for the Arab residents of Um Al-Fahm, who consider themselves Palestinians, to remain in Israel.”
Several Arab cities and neighbourhoods in Israel witnessed demonstrations against Trump’s decision.
On Saturday demonstrators blocked Wadi Ara Highway, which connects the north of Israel with the south, Days of Palestine further reports.
Originally under suspicion over charges of money-laundering and bribery, Lieberman was formally indicted in December of 2012, on lesser charges of fraud and breach of trust.
His party was recently the focus of a corruption probe within the Israeli political spectrum, and, more recently, Lieberman’s life was threatened with an assassination attempt.
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