Arab MK threatens Greek Orthodox priest in Knesset hearing over Christian Arab enlistment

Father Gabriel Nadaf, a Greek Orthodox priest from Nazraeth, has been active in encouraging greater Christian Arab integration into Israeli society.

By JEREMY SHARON
Balad MK Basel Ghattas 370 (photo credit: Courtesy Balad)
Balad MK Basel Ghattas 370
(photo credit: Courtesy Balad)
MK Basel Ghattas spoke out angrily against one of the senior proponents of Christian Arab military enlistment during a committee hearing on Wednesday on the issue.
Father Gabriel Nadaf, a Greek Orthodox priest from Nazraeth, has been active in encouraging greater Christian Arab integration into Israeli society but says that he has been the subject of ongoing incitement against him by various elements in the Arab community.
During the course of the hearing, Ghattas shouted at Nadaf calling him a traitor and a Shabak agent.
Nadaf and other activists in the Forum for Christian Enlistment to the IDF have received numerous threats of violence for their activities and efforts have been made to pressure the Greek Orthodox patriacrch do defrock Nadaf for his activities.
Several protests have also been conducted at a number of universities, including Tel Aviv and the Hebrew University by Arab students against enlistment.
“I can only imagine what would happen in this country if people like Basel Ghattas were in control,” Nadaf told The Jerusalem Post after the hearing.
“Such a person is a public representative and Member of Knesset and he is allowed to incite to murder?” Nadaf asked.
He insisted that it was important for Christians living in Israel to contribute to the country and its security and to unite with the general population, in light of the persecution suffered by Christians around the Middle East in recent years.