Israeli Arab Knesset Member praises Iran’s nuke quest
April 2, 2009 by SAF Desk
New Balad party MK Haneen Zuabi, the first woman to be elected to the Knesset as a representative of an Arab party, has welcomed Iran’s growing influence on Palestinian affairs and praised Iran’s quest for a nuclear weapon as a means of offsetting Israel’s regional military edge.
SLIDESHOW: Israel & Region | World Having Israel as the region’s sole nuclear power, she said, was “dangerous to the world.”
Interviewed in English twice in recent days – in her Knesset office and in a Jerusalem hotel – Zuabi, one of Balad’s three MKs and the former director of the I’lam: Media Center for Arab Palestinians in Israel, said Iran’s role in Palestinian affairs was “more useful” than that of regimes like Jordan and Egypt, in that Iran stood more firmly “against occupation than a lot of the Arab countries. This is our interest.”
She said Egypt and Jordan were scared of a free and democratic Palestinian state.
Queried regarding Iran’s quest to manufacture nuclear weapons, Zuabi stated that having Israel as the region’s sole nuclear power was disadvantageous.
“It would be more supporting me to have a counter-power to Israel,” she said. “I need something to balance [Israel's] power.”
Last 5 posts by SAF Desk
- A new twist to Egypt protest as Army holds back – February 1st, 2011
- Pakistan floods could have been minimised: US team – February 1st, 2011
- Mubarak’s deputy linked to secret CIA program – February 1st, 2011
- US condemns Hezbollah ‘intimidation’ in Lebanon – January 27th, 2011
- Pakistan Ulema chief admits hate literature leads to violence – January 27th, 2011