The Haifa City Council on Monday approved the dismissal of Deputy Mayor Walid Hamis, who represents the Arab sector on the council, for his opposition to the war in Lebanon.

Hamis, whose dismissal was approved by a vote of 23 to 3, charged that he was fired due to his vocal opposition to the war and for pointing out the discrimination in Arab neighborhoods.

Council member Yitzhak Regev, who initiated the move, said that in addition to Hamis' opposition to the war, he was also dismissed due to evidence of irregularities in the election that brought him into office.

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Regev has collected the signatures of 18 council members on a petition calling for Hamis to be dismissed.

In a press conference he held on Monday, Hamis said that coexistence between Jews and Arabs in Haifa is now in danger.

"Today, [coexistence] has been torn apart ... if you are different you cannot be an equal. You must pay the loyalty tax even if you think that [the state] is crazy," Hamis said.

"We are witnessing today a new chapter in the relations between Arabs and the establishment, and between Jews and Arabs. A tradition of decades has been violated," he added.

He defended his opposition to the war, saying he had been voicing something that the rest of the country had come to agree with.

"I said that this war was unnecessary and that blood is being shed and ultimately everyone will regret each and every drop of blood shed. I defined the war as Israeli aggression and the destruction of Lebanon and northern Israel. What I said then is what everyone says now," he said.