Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) President Morton A. Klein released the following statement:
It’s deeply concerning that Israel’s 61-person (out of 120 Knesset members) ruling coalition passed its Ra’am (Islamist Movement party) faction’s new “electricity law.” This law rewards with utility hookups massive illegal Arab and Bedouin building – approximately 130,000 Arab and Bedouin structures, often built on state lands. As Likud MK (Member of Knesset) David Amsalem, a member of the opposition, told the law’s sponsor, Ra’am MK Walid Taha, “You are stealing a quarter of the country with this law.”
It is also concerning that Israel’s ruling coalition discriminated against Jews by rejecting an amendment to also give utility hookups to Jewish “outpost” communities in Judea and Samaria.
Ra’am MK Taha introduced the law with a long speech in Arabic, and rudely rejected requests to speak in Hebrew so that non-Arabic speakers could understand him. In addition, the law was pushed through without the full time for debate, against the advice of the Knesset legal adviser. The 59 opposition MKs walked out in protest during the vote.
Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu noted that this law’s passage was “a black day for Zionism and democracy.”
