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Israeli Parliament Rejects No-Confidence Motions
The Israeli Knesset (Parliament) rejected Monday evening the no-confidence motions submitted by Arab lawmakers against the government led by Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
Voicing their anger over Israeli police's excessive use of force against Israeli Arabs in October during the clashes between the two sides, the Israeli Arab lawmakers submitted four no-confidence motions against the government to the Knesset Monday afternoon.
The motions for no-confidence were in protest against the death of 13 Israeli Arabs during the clashes, the economic plight of the Arab sector, the continuing violence in the Palestinian territories and the danger of wider military clashes between Israel and the Palestinians.
But the motions were refused to be put on the Knesset agenda, with lawmakers of the right-wing Likud party and other opposition factions joining the coalition.
The Arabs have 10 seats in the 120-member Knesset, which started the winter session on October 30.
The Israeli Arabs throughout the country took to the streets since early October to express support for the Palestinians protesting Israeli violation of an Islamic holy site in East Jerusalem. The Arabs clashed for several days with the police and local Israelis, resulting in the 13 deaths.
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