Israeli police accuse Arab MP of giving prisoners phones
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says if Ghatos was engaged in illegal activity he should be 'severely punished'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (AFP/file photos)
Sunday 18 December 2016
Israeli police on Sunday accused an Arab Israeli opposition lawmaker of providing cell phones to two jailed Palestinians.
Police said several cell phones were found in the possession of lawmaker Basel Ghatos when he visited the Ketziot prison in southern Israel last week.
Ghatos belongs Balad, a small nationalist Arab party allied with the Joint List, which holds 13 of the 120 seats in parliament, and is the third-largest bloc in the legislature.
Marking #ArabicLanguageDay:#DidYouKnow? Alongside Hebrew, #Arabic is an official #language in Israel. More facts: mfa.gov.il/MFA/IsraelExpe…
Arab Israelis - who make up around 18 percent of Israel's population - are the descendants of Palestinians who remained on their land after the creation of Israel in 1948. They hold Israeli citizenship, but Arab Israelis largely see themselves as Palestinians.
Police tried to question Ghatos about the devices but he initially refused, citing parliamentary immunity.
The government's legal adviser then authorised them to pursue their investigation, police said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a statement released by his office, said if the investigation proves that Ghatos was engaged in illegal activity he should be "severely punished".
Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman denounced Ghatos on his Facebook page.
"This is extra proof that the Joint List is in fact a unified list of traitors and spies," he said.
