Labor MK Raleb Majadele, Israel's first Muslim minister, said Friday that he would not submit to a security check prior to taking on the science portfolio, as a Knesset member from the right-wing National Union-National Religious Party had demanded.

In light of Majadele's refusal, another member of the same party has asked Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to remove Israel's space agency from the control of the Science, Culture and Sport Ministry before Majadele takes office.

"This is something that smacks of racism," Majadele told Army Radio in reaction to the proposal by MK Aryeh Eldad (NRP-National Union) that he undergo the security check. Cabinet ministers do not generally undergo such checks to become minister.

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Majadele, who currently serves as a minister without portfolio but is expected to take up the science portfolio, said he would refuse to undergo a security check even if he were forced to resign as a result. He already underwent a public test when he was elected to the Knesset and was approved as minister by the cabinet, Majadele told Israel Radio.

Meanwhile, the NRP-National Union faction leader, MK Uri Ariel, sent a letter to Olmert stating that the space agency should not be under Majadele's control because it is responsible for sensitive, strategic plans that influence Israel's security, Israeli media reported Friday. Ariel suggested that the space agency be transferred to the Prime Minister's Office.