Netanyahu apologises to Arab citizens
In the closing hours of Israel’s election last year, Benjamin Netanyahu rallied his supporters with a video warning that ‘‘droves’’ of Arab citizens were being bused to the polls to unseat his right-wing government.
Now, about 16 months later, the prime minister has released a surprise on-camera apology in what amount to an embrace of Israel’s 20 per cent minority population.
In a three-minute YouTube video – in English and Hebrew with Arabic subtitles – Netanyahu said he misspoke on election day and that he understood why Arabs in Israel were upset by his remarks.
‘‘Today, I’m asking Arabs to take part in our society in droves,’’ he said. ‘‘I am proud of the role that Arabs play in Israel’s success. I want you to play an even greater role . . . Respecting minorities isn’t just the right thing to do; it’s critical to our progress. My vision is that young Arab boys and girls grow up knowing they can achieve anything in Israel.’’
The gesture, unexpected and seemingly at odds with Netan- yahu’s past stances, was all the more jarring given that it follows several months during which relations between his Right-wing government and Israel’s Arab citizens – who say they suffer from decades of government neglect – have become even more strained.
‘‘If [Netanyahu] said this seven years ago, when he became prime minister again, you could say, ‘Here, he’s started with good intentions’,’’ Arab MP Aymen Odeh said.
‘‘But after seven years of incitement and de-legitimisation of the Arab population, how do you expect me to believe this person?’’
This month the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, passed a law allowing a special majority to dismiss an MP who expresses support for an enemy of Israel – legislation seen as targeting Arab MPs.
Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman last week compared the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish, a Palestinian poet born in what today is Israel, to Mein Kampf. The government has delayed spending billions in approved funds in neglected Arab towns and cities. Arab citizens are also concerned about a bill sponsored by the government to crack down on houses in Arab towns that were built illegally.
Arab political and human rights leaders said they are sceptical about the apology.
The fact that the message was recorded in English indicates that Netanyahu had an international audience. Officials in the United States and Europe have been increasingly critical of new Israeli legislation that they say will erode the standing of Arabs in Israel.
‘‘One dimension is to improve Israel’s international image with respect to the Arab minority,’’ said Ofer Zalzberg, a Jerusalem-based analyst at the International Crisis Group.
One former Netanyahu adviser said the appeal was unlikely to make political converts or signal a true watershed in Israeli policy.
‘‘Nobody fools themselves and thinks that now the Arabs will be big Netanyahu fans,’’ said Aviv Bushinsky, a former spokesman for the prime minister.
‘‘It’s a Right-wing coalition and a Right-wing leader, and he has priorities that he was elected on.’’