Poll: Most Arab Israelis back MKs’ meeting with terrorists’ families

A majority of Arab Israelis feel Joint (Arab) List MKs did not make a mistake by visiting the bereaved families of Palestinian terrorists killed while carrying out attacks on Israelis, but said the faction’s lawmakers who condemned Gulf states for declaring Hezbollah a terror group were wrong to do so, according to a Channel 2 television poll published Thursday.

The survey conducted by the Midgam Institute found that 65 percent of respondents agreed with a decision by MKs from the Balad party, one of four parties that comprise the Joint List Knesset faction, to meet with family members of Palestinian terrorists whose bodies were held by Israeli authorities. Just 17% agreed that the move was a mistake.

The poll was conducted among 350 Arab Israelis, with a margin of error of 5.2%.

At the time the lawmakers maintained they were simply helping the families recover the attackers’ bodies for burial, but a video of the three MKs ostensibly observing a moment of silence sparked widespread Israeli outrage, and prompted the coalition to draft a controversial bill to allow a three-quarters majority of lawmakers to suspend their colleagues for “unseemly behavior.”

The Channel 2 poll also found that 56% of respondents disagreed with two Joint List parties — Hadash and Balad — for condemning the Gulf Arab states, while just under one fifth (19%) said they approved of the move. The remaining quarter said they either don’t know if the condemnation was justified or declined to answer.

When it comes to the performance of Arab lawmakers, 35% of respondents said the Joint List MKs only slightly represent them, while another 21% said the Arab lawmakers do not represent them at all.

Thirty percent said they feel well-represented by the majority-Arab faction that was formed by the union of Hadash, the United Arab List, Balad, and Ta’al before the 2015 elections. An additional 10% said they feel extremely well-represented.

Earlier this week, Hadash and Balad published condemnations of Sunni Arab states that days earlier blacklisted the Lebanese-based Hezbollah organization. Both parties argued that the move serves Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit out at the MKs in the Knesset after their condemnation. “Will you continue to condemn them when Hezbollah shoots missiles at your villages? Have you gone mad?” he asked, before apologizing for his turn of phrase.

Hezbollah is openly committed to destroying Israel, and has an estimated 100,000-plus rockets and missiles aimed at the Jewish state.

The blacklisting of Hezbollah, announced last Wednesday by the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, came amid the continued deterioration of relations between Hezbollah’s Shiite backer Iran and Sunni-dominated powerhouse Saudi Arabia. Gulf monarchies had already sanctioned Hezbollah in 2013 in reprisal for its armed intervention in Syria in support of embattled President Bashar Assad.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.