Arab-Israeli MK Haneen Zoabi: kidnappers are ‘not terrorists’

(JNS.org) Arab-Israeli MK Haneen Zoabi said in a radio interview on Tuesday that the people who kidnapped the three Israeli teens last week are “not terrorists.” 

“They are people that cannot see any way to change their reality, and they are forced to use these means until Israeli society wises up a bit and sees and feels the suffering of the other,” Haneen Zoabi said in a interview on Tuesday morning with Radio Tel Aviv.

Zoabi, who is a member of the Arab nationalist party Balad, has had a controversial political career. She has been an outspoken opponent of Israel and participated in the 2010 flotilla that tried to break the naval blockade on Gaza.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Facebook slammed Zoabi for her remarks, calling her the terrorist.

“Not only are the kidnappers terrorists; Hanin Zoabi is a terrorist,” Lieberman said.

“The fate of the kidnappers and the fate of the inciter who encourages kidnapping Hanin Zoabi should be the same,” Lieberman added.

Meanwhile, Culture and Sport Minister Limor Livnat said she plans to call on Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein to investigate Zoabi’s remarks and whether they violate Israel’s laws on inciting terrorism.

“Zoabi is not worthy to serve as an MK in Israel and she should be put on trial,” Livnat said, the Jerusalem Post reported.

On Monday, Zoabi also harshly criticized her relative, 17-year-old Mohammed Zoabi, who posted a YouTube video condemning the kidnappers and calling for them to release the Israeli teens.

“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 News.