Right-wing activists to rally next week in Nazareth

MK Michael Ben Ari (National Union) and two prominent right-wing activists will lead a protest next Sunday in Nazareth to demand Arab-Israeli participation in national service.

Police granted permission for the group, which will be comprised of about 80 people, to protest in the Arab city. Authorities expect counter-protests to take place during the rally, and are set to deploy hundreds of police officers at the scene.

Ben Ari said Sunday that there should be no discrimination between the Arabs and the ultra-Orthodox in terms of equality in sharing the burden. “Those in the Arab sector must know that people who live in the country must have obligations and not just rights,” he said.

Next week’s protest comes on the heels of a major demonstration in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, where 35,000 people called on the government to adopt a universal service law, which would distribute the burden of military and national service more equally among the various segments of Israeli society.