JERUSALEM: An Arab Israeli lawmaker has caused an uproar after describing ailing Nobel peace laureate Shimon Peres as covered “head to toe” in Palestinian blood.
Former Israeli president and prime minister Peres, 93, remained in serious condition Thursday after suffering a stroke two days earlier.
As messages of concern and wishes for his recovery flowed from public leaders at home and abroad, MP Basel Ghattas posted on his Facebook a scathing attack on the veteran leader’s record in the conflict with the Palestinians.
Peres, he wrote in Arabic, was one of the “strongest pillars of the Zionist colonialist settlement project and one of the most despicable, cruel, radical and long-living.”
Arab Israelis — who represent about 17.5 percent of Israel’s population — are the descendants of Palestinians who remained on their land after the creation of Israel in 1948. Although they are citizens of the Jewish state they largely identify as Palestinians.
Peres, who became director general of the nascent defense ministry at just 29 years old, once hawkishly rejected any compromise with Arab states.
He said he became a dove after 1977, when Egyptian president Anwar Sadat made a historic visit to Jerusalem, leading to the first Arab-Israeli peace treaty.
“Our blood covers him from head to toe,” wrote Ghattas, a member of the Joint List Arab coalition.
“Let us... remember his real essence as a tyrant and a direct administrator of the crimes and war crimes carried out against our rights.”
Peres covered ‘head to toe’ in Palestinian blood
Peres covered ‘head to toe’ in Palestinian blood
