Arab members of the Joint List bloc in Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, have described the police investigation into alleged corruption scandal involving one of the Arab parties as “a political witch hunt”, Ynet News reported on Tuesday. Joint Arab List MKs Hanin Zoabi of the National Democratic Alliance and Jamal Zahalka of Balad attended the investigation on Monday. A large number of protesters were waiting for them outside the police office.
“The investigation lasted for more than six hours and was purely political,” the bloc’s secretary general told Anadolu. “It is intended to criminalise Palestinian political activity within Israel under the guise of a corruption investigation.”
Hanan Zoabi insisted that she and her colleagues have not committed any crime. “This is a witch hunt that is continuing without any reason,” she told Ynet News. “The police claim that we subsidise nationalist activities. In my opinion there is nothing criminal about this and we will continue to support them.”
The MK is an outspoken critic of Israeli policies. “If there is anything that they need to investigate it is the prime minister. I am sure that if this had happened with Jewish activists, there would have been no arrest warrants.”
Zahalka insisted that the MKs have “nothing to hide” financially. “We have given all our reporting to the state comptroller and I think the entire issue should begin and end there.” The fact that the file was transferred to the police was a political move, he added. “It was aimed at hurting Balad.”
The Joint List consists of 13 MKs from the total of 120 in parliament. The bloc is an alliance of all the Arab parties which have a presence in the Knesset.