Labor Party MKs Criticize Cabel's Vote on Arab Parties' Disqualification

MK Eitan Cabel (Labor)

For the latest sum-up of the Central Elections Committee vote see this article in the English edition of Ha'aretz.

Labor party backbenchers expressed their opposition to Cabel's vote in favor of the disqualification:

Senior Labor Party figures lashed out at the party's CEC representative, Eitan Cabel, who voted in favor of banning the two Arab parties. 

"[MK] Shelly Yachimovich and I thought we must object to the move to ban the Arab lists for reasons of freedom of expression," said Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog. "The minority's right to be heard must be preserved," he said. 

MK Ophir Pines (Labor) said from overseas that he strongly objected to Labor's stance in the vote and that it was not the position that had been agreed on. 

Cabel explains and qualifies his vote:

"It's true we said we wouldn't ban, but [Balad leader MK Jamal] Zahalka's statement that he was in touch with Bishara led me to think that we must draw the line somewhere," he said. "I'm making no apologies because I fight more than most in the Knesset for equal rights for Arabs. I know it won't stand up in the Supreme Court, and rightly so, because there is no evidentiary basis for the [committee's] decision."