Arab MK upset by relative’s public call for return of teens
Mohammad Zoabi: Palestinian Authority ‘biggest terrorist’ of all; Likud’s Levin calls on public security minister to guarantee outspoken kin’s security.
By ARIEL BEN SOLOMONMOHAMMAD ZOABI is shown in the pro-Israel video that angered his cousin, MK Haneen Zoabi. (photo credit: YOUTUBE SCREENSHOT)
17-year-old Mohammad Zoabi, a cousin of Balad MK Haneen Zoabi, made a video calling on “terrorists” to return the three yeshiva students missing in the West Bank since Thursday night and presumed to have been kidnapped.“Those terrorists that have kidnapped our kids – bring them back, and you had better bring them back now!” exclaimed the young Zoabi, an Israeli flag in the background.Speaking in English, Arabic and Hebrew, he also addressed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his government.“Wake up and stop cooperating with terrorists,” he told them, adding that the Palestinian Authority was the “biggest” terrorist.“Our enemies do not separate between Arabs and Jews living in Israel,” he said.Like his lawmaker relative, a resident of Nazareth, Zoabi said he was proud to be an Israeli , adding that the country should continue to be a Jewish and democratic state.His video was uploaded to Youtube on Saturday and as of Monday evening had accounted for over 25,000 views.The Balad MK was quick to unleash her displeasure.“I am happy to see that Israeli hasbara [public diplomacy] is in such a dire state that it needs a stupid boy with a twisted identity who feels a continuous need to apologize to his strong masters,” Haneen Zoabi told Ynet.
“The Israeli desire to highlight this delusional case shows the state’s need for legitimacy, even if it comes from a questionable direction.”Citing an incitement campaign being waged against Mohammad Zoabi in the wake of the video – including by his lawmaker relative – coalition chairman MK Yariv Levin (Likud) wrote a letter to Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch (Likud Beytenu) demanding that he guarantee the teen’s safety.
