Credit
Ahmad Gharabli/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
JERUSALEM — An Arab member of Israel’s Parliament was arrested on Thursday after being accused of smuggling cellphones to Palestinian prisoners, capping days of fractious debate that raised questions about the nature of loyalty and identity in a predominantly Jewish state.
Basel Ghattas, 60, a magazine publisher who joined the Knesset in 2013, was taken into custody by the police just hours after agreeing to surrender his legislative immunity. Such a move is extremely rare in Israel, although in recent years a former prime minister and a president have been charged with corruption and rape and later sent to prison.
“Anyone who smuggles cellphones to imprisoned murderers understands that their use could lead to further acts of terror and murder and is therefore dangerous to the public and belongs behind bars,” Gilad Erdan, the public security minister, said on Israel radio.
In a video he posted on his Facebook page before his arrest on Thursday, Mr. Ghattas said he had agreed to accept his immunity being lifted a day after a legislative committee voted unanimously to do so, but denied the allegations against him. He said that his continuous efforts to assist prisoners was a personal commitment and he did not regret anything he had done.
The arrest underscored tension for Arab lawmakers serving in the Knesset between support for the Palestinian cause and participation in Israeli government. Three Arab members of the Parliament, including Mr. Ghattas, were censured by fellow lawmakers this year after they met with relatives of Palestinians who were killed by Israeli forces after attacking Jews.
This fall, some Arabs in the Knesset boycotted the funeral of Shimon Peres, the former president and prime minister who helped negotiate the Oslo peace accords, to protest his policies supporting settlement construction in the West Bank and authorizing military action that killed civilians in Lebanon.
Arabs represent about one-fifth of Israel’s population and frequently struggle with questions about the actions of their country while facing whispered doubts about their fidelity to the state. Many identify with the grievances of Palestinians living under occupation in the West Bank.
Mr. Ghattas, a member of the Joint List alliance of predominantly Arab parties, served as director and publisher of Malakom, an Arabic language magazine about economics, from 2007 to 2012 and still writes regularly for it. He also helped start two foundations to support Arabs with disabilities and Arab university students in Britain.
The debate to lift his immunity this week was at times raw. “M.K. Ghattas proved that he is not a traitor, rather he is the enemy,” Amir Ohana, a lawmaker from the governing Likud Party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said at one point, using the initials for a member of Knesset. Mr. Ghattas and two other Arab members, he added, “should be colleagues in prison.”
Shuli Moalem-Refaeli, a lawmaker from the Jewish Home party, said the members from one of the Arab parties “have committed treason against the State of Israel time after time.”
Mr. Ghattas was recorded on video delivering cellphones, SIM cards and documents to prisoners convicted of murder or other violent crimes, according to Israeli media reports. But as his fate was debated this week, Mr. Ghattas railed against what he called the bias of the authorities and said he had voluntarily answered questions.
“There is no doubt that this extreme step, its timing and character, match the populist sound waves of House committee members,” he said.
