CAIRO, 23 April 2007 — Israeli Arab lawmaker Azmi Bishara, under criminal investigation in Israel, resigned from the Knesset yesterday at the Israeli Embassy in Cairo and said he would stay abroad for a time because of a “racist” climate.
Israeli Embassy spokesman Benny Sharoni confirmed that Bishara, the subject of an Israeli police investigation into unspecified criminal allegations, handed his resignation to Ambassador Shalom Cohen at a meeting in the morning.
Bishara, who heads the anti-Zionist party Balad, has clashed with Israel’s justice system in the past by making solidarity trips to Syria and Lebanon and invoking parliamentary immunity to evade prosecution for visiting “enemy states.”
“Exile is not an option. Return is definite but the matter will take some time and arrangements. I want to set the rules of the game,” Bishara told the Arab news channel Al-Jazeera.
“I have commitments now with other countries which I cannot make if I were there (Israel). This is why I decided to end my responsibilities with my former post.”
He said that if he stayed in Israel, legal proceedings could drag on for years and he would not be able to leave. “There’s no point now to clinging to parliamentary status and immunity in this right-wing, fascist, racist orchestra,” he added.
An Israeli court last week partially lifted a gag order on the inquiry into Bishara, allowing police to announce that its international crimes unit is investigating him.
Balad holds three of the 120 seats in the Israeli Parliament. It calls for Israel to cease being defined as a Jewish state and for Palestinians to achieve statehood in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
