Liberman touts Palestinian flag ban ahead of Knesset vote

Legislators are expected to vote in the coming hours on a controversial measure that would ban flags of enemy states — including Palestinians — at publicly funded institutions.

The bill is from Likud’s Eli Cohen, but the coalition has allowed MKs to support the measure in its preliminary reading, giving it a chance to pass this initial hurdle before moving to committee.

Ahead of the expected vote, Finance Minister and Yisrael Beytenu party head Avigdor Liberman tweets, “In our state there is only room for one flag – the flag of Israel.”

Although Palestinian flags have sometimes been prohibited or confiscated by police, they are not illegal. The legislative push follows criticism of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev after Palestinian flags were displayed during a recent rally at the school in Beersheba.