"Do you understand what you need to do, or do you not understand the whole dialogue about normalizing the relationship?" Abu Shehadeh asked the Emirati guests in Arabic. "I guess there can be a lot of problems, but it is clear that moral standards also play a role in the world. Even if there are economic implications at some level (getting into each other’s stuff) you know there is a problem."Aren't you ashamed?" he asked them. "I say this for you. Maybe some kind of shame will come out of you. You might be ashamed. I understand there is no morality in all this dialogue. If there is little morality in the world, you should be ashamed of yourself with such things."
After the Joint List MK refused to stop making such comments, MK Avi Dichter, chairman of the committee, ordered him to be removed from the discussion.The Joint List voted against the peace agreement with the United Arab Emirates in the Knesset in October. The Arab MKs said they opposed it, because in their view, it was now harder to achieve agreements with the Palestinians and it legitimized what they consider to be Israeli occupation.
At the end of the discussion, Dichter apologized for the incident.
"We are in the momentum of the Abraham Accords throughout the region. There are bodies like the Palestinian Authority that refuse to understand that things are changing, and we are talking about peace, not business deals. Business deals come after peace," said Dichter."There is one party in our parliament that voted against the Abraham Accords," he said. "They refuse to acknowledge that it is a new Middle East."
"I want to say 'well done' to you, because I know it is not easy to hear a member of Knesset, one of 120, who insults you because you signed an agreement with Israel," Dichter said. "He represents himself, but this is part of democracy and I tried to keep him here and explain to him that it is impossible to continue like this. But he came to make a provocation and not listen, so I had no choice [except to remove him]. So I want to apologize again that you had to see this whole show." "We are very happy to see you both here. I hope we can see you soon and it will be a pleasure to see you here with us. I appreciate your time and wish you all the best – and for the opportunity to learn more from you."
Dichter called Shehadeh's comments "despicable" and very difficult. "I was sure that in the face of MK Abu Shehadeh's remarks, the Emiratis would get off the call. The fact that they stayed means that they are professionals who know what they are doing, and understand who and what they represent. In my opinion, this is the most important thing," he said.
The chairman updated the Foreign Ministry and the Prime Minister's Office on the incident. During the meeting, Dichter also spoke with the Emirati guests in Arabic.Gil Hoffman and Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.