Religious Zionism party chairman MK Bezalel Smotrich warned Monday that the greatest national security threat to the State of Israel comes not from foreign actors, but from nationalist elements within the Israeli Arab community.
"I want to say here in a way that is not ambiguous: the most dangerous security threat today to the State of Israel and its citizens is the threat from home, posed by the nationalist elements among the Arabs of Israel. The hundreds of thousands of illegal weapons that will be directed at the moment of truth against the citizens of Israel constitute a potential for great damage and are much more complex to deal with than the Iranian threat," Smotrich warned in an address at Reichman University.
According to him, "The Iranian threat and that of its affiliates is managed outside the country's borders and the security system knows its reference scenarios and is working to create a response. The threat from home is much more dangerous."
He added that: "As a first step, the current Arab parties in the Knesset and their representatives, who are the first to lead the hostile discourse against the State of Israel and against its right to exist as an independent and sovereign Jewish state, should be outlawed. There is nothing democratic about allowing your enemy to pursue the realization of his goals through the mechanisms of democracy".
"There is nothing that has contributed more to the raising of nationalist awakening and radicalization of growing sections among the Arabs of Israel than the previous government, and in any case there is nothing more dangerous to the security of the citizens of Israel than it. In the next government that we will establish with the help of G-d after the elections, we will change the disqualification mechanism and take it out of the hands of the Supreme Court, in a way that ensures it will no longer allow the judges of the Supreme Court to ignore the language of the law and the intention of the legislator and grant legitimacy again and again those who support terrorism and armed struggle against the State of Israel," concluded Smotrich.
He referred to the low voter turnout during elections among Arab society and said: "The Arab public's loss of trust in the Arab members of the Knesset, who instead of promoting their civil affairs promote the fight against the State of Israel, is reflected in the low voter turnout in Arab society. On the day when the parties supporting terrorism are outlawed and will no longer be able to compete, the door will be opened in Arab society for the establishment of a different civilian leadership which accepts the founding ethos of the State of Israel as a Jewish state and strives to improve the lives and well-being of the Arab citizens of Israel within the framework of the Jewish state. This is the [right] way and there is no reason we cannot both improve the quality of life of the Arabs of Israel while at the same time removing the dangerous threat facing us at home."