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MK Lieberman: Israeli Arab party and Hamas have same goal - to destroy Israel
By Yoav Stern and Shahar Ilan, Haaretz Correspondents
Tags: israel news, kadima 

Kadima party decided Sunday to support a proposal to disqualify Israeli-Arab Balad party from the election race on February 10.

In doing so Kadima joins Yisrael Beiteinu and other political parties who declared that because Balad rejects the idea of an Israeli state, it can thereforenot take part in the 18th Knesset.

"The goals of Hamas and Balad are the same: to destroy Israel," said Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman MK Avigdor Lieberman. "The difference between them is that the Hamas is outside of Israel, in Gaza, whereas Balad is not only within Israel, but sits in its parliament."
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Kadima's decision increases the chances that the disqualification will be approved before it reaches a High Court of Justice ruling.

"The power of a democracy is not just allowing representation of the minorities that live within it, but also the obligation to defend itself from those who wish to exploit the freedoms that it enables in order to destroy it," the ruling faction said in a statement.

Meanwhile Israeli-Arab parties are calling to postpone the elections in light of their growing concern of a low voting rate.

Political parties Hadash and Ra'am-Ta'al fear that the Arab public's rage at the ongoing Gaza offensive that was launched over two weeks ago will be translated into a mass refusal to take part in the elections.

In such a case, Zionist parties may receive more seats in the next Knesset while Arab parties may barely pass the vote threshold.

The Knesset's legal adviser, Nurit Elstein published her assessment Saturday, stating that the elections should be postponed only if two conditions are met: an approving majority of 80 MKs, and "special circumstances that prevent elections from taking place at their set date."

Elstein explained she does not infer that the Hamas' rocket firing into Israel is considered a special circumstance, and that she refrains from expressing a stance whether elections should be held as planned or not.
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  1.   Democratic state? 00:26  |  RFE 12/01/09
  2.   The Last Front 01:02  |  Ron 12/01/09
  3.   about time this was acted upon. i concurr 01:41  |  ralph 12/01/09
  4.   Why do you "concur" Ralph? 06:03  |  BBSNews 12/01/09
  5.   Rightfully so... 06:34  |  Dado 12/01/09
  6.   the only democracy in the m.east?ha,ha,ha 10:54  |  daz 12/01/09
  7.   yes it`s is 23:20  |  cbl 12/01/09
  8.   You want to talk about facism? 18:58  |  NOYB 10/02/09
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