We must talk to everyone

It's a little hard to believe, but in Israel of 2006, there is still one Knesset member who travels from his Tel Aviv home to the Knesset by bus.

MK Dov Khenin of Hadash doesn't boast about this, but when he is asked why he behaves so modestly compared to all the other ministers and legislators who travel in Knesset cars with drivers, he replies: "On the bus I can read and work. I believe in efficient, convenient and inexpensive public transportation, but to my regret we have not yet achieved that. There is a lot to improve in this area. If public transportation were to reach the unrecognized Bedouin locales in the Negev and every Arab village in the Galilee, I would relinquish the car the Knesset puts at my disposal, but there are places the buses don't reach."

Khenin, 48, is the son of a communist family. His father David was a leader of the Israeli Communist Party (Maki) and the New Communist List (Rakah). He often suffered during his childhood because of his parents' political views. When he was 9, older children beat him up because he was a communist.

"This wasn't a pleasant experience," he recalls. "At that time the principle of two states for two peoples was not only outside the consensus but really heretical."

Khenin, now serving his first Knesset term, sees himself as the successor to former Hadash MK Tamar Gozansky, who excelled at parliamentary work. "I have a long way to go to get to the place Gozansky reached. I learned a lot from her."

As a lawyer, Khenin is proud that a petition he submitted to the High Court of Justice against the banning of Yitzhak Laor's play "Ephraim Returns to the Army" led to the end of theatrical censorship in Israel. He holds a doctorate in political science from Tel Aviv University, and his Ph.D. dissertation dealt with "Discourse and hegemony in Mapai and the British Labor Party." (Mapai was the precursor to today's Israeli Labor Party).

Khenin is an environmental activist, and he chairs Israel's environmental umbrella organization. He has been partnered with former Knesset member Omri Sharon on many environmental issues.

"In this area Omri made a very positive contribution, and I'm still working with him, even though we are very far apart in our political outlooks," says Khenin.

Will the truce that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) agreed to Saturday night hold up?

"I welcome the truce, but I regret that it has been achieved only now. For it to hold up, we must not be content with only a cease-fire, but must launch a process that includes a prisoner swap to release Gilad Shalit and Palestinian prisoners, including Marwan Barghouti. A second component has to be the start of a diplomatic process, which will afford hope for a better future in the relations between the two peoples."

Does the truce show that both sides are tired of the current situation?

"I believe that both peoples are ripe for a political agreement and it is only the leaderships that need to mature, especially on the Israeli side. I opposed the Qassams because they harm innocent people. However, the Qassams did not hurt only the inhabitants of Sderot and the Gaza envelope, but also the Palestinians. All the unnecessary blood that has been spilled is a pity."

To what extent do you identify with Sderot residents, who suffered from daily Qassam barrages?

"I very much felt their hurt. I am sad about all the suffering they have been through. Their suffering is unnecessary. There is no reason for them and the inhabitants of Beit Hanun to continue to suffer."

Who is to blame for the situation?

"I pin direct responsibility on the government of Israel. It should have returned the Gaza Strip under an agreement. When [former prime minister Ariel] Sharon raised the idea of a unilateral withdrawal, I was opposed, because in carrying out that move they made the Gaza Strip into a gigantic prison destined for catastrophe. Instead of a unilateral move we could have reached an agreement with Abu Mazen, but the government of Israel preferred to ignore him."

But Abu Mazen has no control.

"The excuses change, but the refusal to enter into real dialogue with the Palestinian leadership remains. During Yasser Arafat's rule, the government argued that he didn't want to negotiate. Now it is impossible to claim Abu Mazen does not want a diplomatic process, so they say he is weak. We must negotiate with the Palestinian leader. Israel cannot decide for the Palestinians who is strong and who is weak. Israel is doing everything it can to weaken Abu Mazen. It is not giving him any achievements, it is not releasing prisoners, it is continuing to build the wall in a way that confiscates lands from the Palestinians, and it is continuing to develop the Jewish settlements in the West Bank."

Should Israel negotiate with Hamas even though it does not recognize Israel?

"Under the current circumstances, we must talk to everyone possible. The moment you talk to them, they recognize you. The Olmert government's art is finding reasons and excuses not to negotiate. Hadash has a very harsh political debate with Hamas and what it represents. We are very far from their positions and outlooks. I believe it is in Israel's interest to initiate negotiations with all elements in the Palestinian public, without preconditions."

Should Olmert have responded positively to Syrian President Bashar Assad's call?

"Of course. The fact that Olmert is ignoring Assad's call is a blunder of historic significance. Syria is sending out a message of conciliation and dialogue, and Olmert keeps refusing. His approach derives from the desire to serve the American empire. The Americans are making deals with Iran about Iraq, and they are sending us to serve as the neighborhood madman or bully. The time has come for Israel to act like an independent country."

You don't think Assad's offer is just media spin?

"In my opinion his offer is sincere. Syria, for its own reasons, is interested in an agreement with Israel. It is true this arrangement has a price, and that is returning the entire Golan Heights to Syria. In the end, like it was with Egypt when Israel returned all the territories, here too Israel will have to give up the Golan in order to reach an agreement."

Why haven't you and your colleagues publicly condemned Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's threats to destroy Israel?

"We certainly do condemn Ahmadinejad's threats. The things he is saying are very grave, and are unacceptable. We also condemn his attempt to deny the Holocaust. However, we are totally opposed to Israel having a military confrontation with Iran. It is in the interest of Israel and the entire region to achieve calm, and this can be done through international dialogue. If the Israeli-Palestinian struggle calms down and Israel reaches agreements with the Arab countries, Iran will also join this process."

Do you believe his intentions are serious, or are these hollow threats?

"I don't know him and I don't know how to analyze Iranian politics, but it is clear to me that he can speak the way he is speaking because the Arab world harbors a lot of anger toward Israel and a great deal of shock over the daily images of killed Palestinian children and babies. I hope no one in Israel is seriously thinking about the crazy idea of attacking the reactors in Iran, which would be disastrous first and foremost to Israel. When I hear Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman's threats, I think there may be madmen in the government who are prepared to try a move like that."

A polluted country

Over the years you have chaired environmental organizations. Is Israel a polluted and dirty country?

"Israel is a very polluted country. With respect to environmental issues, we are still living by third-world standards. It very much pays to pollute the environment in Israel. Last week the Knesset passed in its first reading a bill I initiated that would bring about substantial changes in this area. The proposed law, the "Polluter Pays" law, creates for the first time a means of economic punishment that links the size of the fine to the damage created or profits earned.

"The refineries in Haifa, for example, pollute the air very badly. From time to time they are fined for this, but it is very worthwhile for them to pay the fines instead of dealing with the problems created by the pollution. I believe the fines are not high enough."

Do you welcome Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski's decision to freeze the Safdie plan?

"Definitely. I hope this will be the end of the plan. This a very bad plan for both environmental reasons - the destruction of the Jerusalem hills - and social reasons - because it means the destruction of Jerusalem's center. If inhabitants move to the periphery, the center will be weakened."

Are Israelis aware of environmental issues? It seems like all of us are disgracefully polluting the parks and the forests.

"I have no complaints about the man in the street. I live in Tel Aviv, and every morning I see my neighbors coming out of their buildings with several plastic bottles and putting them in the recycling bin. They do not receive any payment for this. This proves there is public awareness. If you give people the option of acting in environmentally friendly ways, they take it."

As a lawyer, in your opinion does 2006 Israel have a corrupt government?

"Israel has a structural corruption problem in the political system. The deepest corruption occurs in everything connected to wealth and government, in the link between the top governmental echelon and the top economic echelon."

Are you bothered by how investigations at the State Prosecutor's Office may last for months, sometimes years, delaying justice for the accused?

"I am definitely disturbed. Therefore I intend to promote a bill setting the time frame for investigating offenses in accordance with the severity of the offense. For example, a minor offense could be investigated within a limited time, a misdemeanor could be investigated for a bit longer, and a felony could be investigated for a longer period. This initiative is aimed at preventing hundreds of thousands of people from having an eternally open criminal file with the police or the prosecutor's office. This is intolerable and must be changed."

Speak softly

Many sectors, including the Arab sector, harshly criticize the Supreme Court. Do you share this criticism?

"I am critical of the Supreme Court on a long list of issues. The way it handles norms and basic human rights in the territories is very weak. The Supreme Court does not handle issues connected to the Arab public in a sufficiently assertive way. Its manner of dealing with social issues is also not profound, but when I compare it to other authorities like the government and the Knesset, I believe it makes a positive contribution to the Israeli society. It should be strengthened and preserved as an independent system that is not subordinate to political forces."

Why are there such acute tensions and competition among the three parties that represent the Arab public in the Knesset? After all, you represent the same interests, primarily concern for the Arab public in Israel.

"There is strong disagreement among us because we represent three different worldviews. United Arab List-Ta'al represents a very conservative social outlook with a strong Islamic element. Balad is a party with a nationalist-liberal ideology, and Hadash is an Arab-Jewish party with a socialist worldview. Of course all three factions have common ground, but there are many things that differentiate us. It is worth paying attention to the differences and the debates among us. It is good that the Arab public is no less pluralistic than the Jewish public."

Do you find that being a member of the Hadash faction impedes you in advancing issues you believe in?

"No. I don't feel rejected or subject to hostility. The approach usually has to do with the matter at hand. There are Knesset members who are very far from me politically with whom I cooperate on environmental issues. The trick in the Knesset is to know how to argue for your political positions and not to give them up, while cooperating on social and environmental issues. Of course there are issues in which I am part of a small minority, especially in the diplomatic-security area."

It is evident that your style is different from that of Knesset members like Mohammad Barakeh. You are less fiery than they are. I've never seen you curse or express yourself crudely. Is it a matter of individual temperament?

"Everyone has his own style. From my experience I can say that with a quieter style you can go further. Because we want to go very far, it is preferable to act quietly. It's precisely the hardest things that need to be said quietly, and then people hear them."

Vital stats: Dov Khenin

Born: 1958, Israel

Family status: Married, with three children

Residence: Tel Aviv

Education: Law degree from Hebrew University, Jerusalem; doctorate in political science from Tel Aviv University

Public positions: Chairs environmental umbrella organization; heads environmental justice program at Tel Aviv University law faculty

Entered Knesset: 2006

Knesset positions: member of Internal Affairs and Environment Committee, Committee on Rights of the Child

Foreign languages: English, French and some Italian

Hobbies: Swimming, reading books and conversing with his children ("Two of them are adults and the youngest is 11 years old"). Books: "Seeing" and "The Cave" by Jose Saramago ("He's an extraordinary writer").