New Israeli Law Bars Those Who Visited Enemy Countries From The Knesset

The Jerusalem Post reports that a common sense bill to prohibit anyone who visited an enemy state of Israel from becoming a Knesset member became Israeli law on Monday. "This law will return some of our trampled honor as a nation and will give us a good reason to stand upright. From now on, Israeli citizens can be calm - enemies will no longer sit in the legislature. As in every normal, enlightened, democratic state, anyone who disregards national security will know that he won't be able to be elected to the Knesset," said MK Estherina Tartman (Israel Beiteinu)who together with MK Zevulun Orlev (NU-NRP) submitted the bill. The bill is also known as the Bishara Law, because it was submitted after the publication of the case of former Balad MK Azmi Bishara, who made numerous trips to Lebanon and Syria and is currently wanted for questioning by the Israel Police under suspicion of treason for allegedly aiding Hizbullah during the Second Lebanon War. "From today onward, Arab MKs will have to decide - the Syrian parliament or the Israeli parliament. The law will put the brakes on the infiltration of Trojan horses into the Knesset," said Orlev. "We must demand of the Arab leadership unconditional loyalty to the state of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state just as every democratic state asks of its elected officials." The law states that "anyone who has illegally visited an enemy state in the seven years preceding the [submission of his name on the party list] will be seen as a supporter of armed struggle, unless they prove otherwise."


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