|
|
| By Israel Insider staff May 26, 2008 |
|
| |
 Bookmark to del.icio.us |
| |
Anyone acting to remove lands from the State of Israel will be sentenced to death, Knesset Member Aryeh Eldad said Monday, quoting "a definition of the treason clause in the Penal Law." Lest anyone suspect that his colleague was referring to an extrajudicial procedure, fellow faction member MK Effie Eitam, a Golan resident, clarified that "we are talking about death by a court of law."
Eldad said he has asked Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz to investigate the matter and to determine whether or not Olmert's actions "could be defined as treason." Incidentally, he told a rally in Jerusalem in support of the Golan that he had said the same thing about Olmert's plans to divide Jerusalem but added that it didn't cause such an uproar then.
"Maybe I have done Olmert a favor by shifting the focus away from his corruption charge," said Eldad. "But the real intention was to warn the decision-makers that Israel is not yours, it belongs to the nation."
But Israeli leftists were ready to pounce. Following Eldad's remarks, MK Ran Cohen (Meretz) said he would complain to Mazuz, demanding that MK Eldad be probed for incitement. "These words of slander are reminiscent of the days before Rabin's murder and must not be heard," Cohen explained. "The law enforcement authorities must prevent this from a public figure."
An official at Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Office said in response that "the man and his words are unworthy of a response." NU-NRP MK Zevulun Orlev said in a letter to Eldad that he was "amazed by the remarks." Orlev wrote, "Your call may be understood as permitting another political murder of a prime minister. I urge you to take back these remarks."
On Monday evening, Eldad sent a letter to Attorney General Mazuz in which he sought to clarify his remark. In the letter titled "A treasonous offence", Eldad claimed that "the Golan Heights Law from 1981 applies the Israeli law on the Golan Heights as it is a sovereign part of the State of Israe. The Israeli Penal Code from 1977 defines in clause 97B the term 'treason': A person who caused a territory to be removed from the State's sovereignty or enter the sovereignty of a foreign country, an act which could lead to a death sentence or life imprisonment."
Eldad added that "since Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stated that he is holding Turkish mediated negotiations with Syria, which are aimed at signing a peace agreement in exchange for handing over the Golan Heights to Syria, his acts are similar to a treason offense.
"I would be much obliged if you could instruct the police to launch a probe into this matter, and if it is found that Mr. Olmert committed this offense, you should instruct that he be tried for treason." Eldad insisted: "All I did was quote the law. I am sorry if I helped Olmert by diverting the public opinion nd the media's attention from his cash envelopes."
The Golan lobby chairman, MK Yisrael Katz (Likud), said at the start of the meeting that "the bright side is the Israeli public's stance. Seventy percent of the public oppose an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights. The people are stronger than their leaders."
Sami Bar Lev, head of the Katzrin Council, said that "the residents are strong and we believe that no one -- neither the prime minister nor the person who succeeds him -- will manage to harm the Golan Heights. It is a sovereign part of the State. There is no majority for this not in the Knesset and not among the people."
Bar Lev, who has been politically active in a bid to thwart the move, met Sunday with the prime minister's two deputies, Minister Eli Yishai and Shaul Mofaz, who promised him to oppose a withdrawal from the Golan, adding that "By giving away the Golan at this time we would be transferring the area to Iran," Mofaz told Bar Lev and other heads of communities in the Golan.
MK Eitam added during the meeting that as many people as possible should visit the Golan. He warned against manipulations aimed at changing the public opinion, which he said opposed a withdrawal from the Golan.
Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud) joined the meeting in the middle, saying that "when one sticks a hoe in the Golan land, what does one discover? Syrian antiques? One discovers synagogues and other antiques belonging to the Jewish people."
Netanyahu went on to say that "the late Rabin said in 1992 that whoever withdraws from the Golan Heights would be endangering Israel's security. This statement was true then, it is true today, and it will be true tomorrow as well."
Minister Eitan said that three of his granddaughters live in the Golan, adding that "the security argument is a first-class argument. Iran is joining the Shiites and Hamas, sooner or later it will come, and then what will we say? That the Syrians are on Lake Kinneret? For me, giving away a part of the Golan Heights is like giving away a part of Tel Aviv."
MK Yoram Marciano was the only Labor Party member to attend the meeting. "Parts of the Labor Party support you," he said. "I am all for peace, but it is unthinkable that any negotiations start with concessions and then talks. I am here to say no to a withdrawal from the Golan Heights."
President Shimon Peres said in a special statement that "regardless of any political views, no one in Israel should stain the political discourse with such statement, which only spread violence and opposes the State's basic values, Jewish morals and the law."
MK Danny Yatom (Labor) also called on Eldad to take back his remarks. "These remarks are extremely serious and must be condemned by all. These words of incitement against people are so harsh that they may cause people to get hurt." |
|
 
|
|
|
|
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the  icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
|
|
| |
|
|
