I’ve been horrified at the connection of anti-Israel terrorist-apologizer Arab “politician” MK Hanin Zoabi’s run for the Knesset with that of Baruch Marzel.

Zoabi and Marzel will participate in the 20th Knesset elections

Unfortunately the prevalent anti-Kach (Rabbi Meir Kahane) sentiment in the Leftist Israeli “Justice” sic system and media consider anyone who has ever supported Kahane to be a “danger,” no matter how patriotic and law-abiding they are. Extremism from Jews on the Right is considered a “danger,” while Arab extremism and support/understanding of anti-Jewish terror acts is excused as legitimate.

Deja vu, this reminds me very unpleasantly of the outrageously insulting visit of an American Consulate official over twenty years ago. My husband had inquired why the consulate regularly invited Arabs to events, while people like us (who hosted officials on a regular basis) were snubbed. The official replied:

“…but we don’t invite anyone from Hamas either!”

I countered:

“Are you comparing us with the Arab terrorists who murdered my friend Rachella Druk, who’s buried out here?” And I pointed in the direction of the cemetery.

Since then we have been invited to the Jerusalem Consulate’s annual July 4th reception, but I never received an apology from them.

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Israel’s High Court has ruled that Israeli Arab candidate Balad MK Hanin Zoabi can run for re-election — despite her numerous statements, and actions, in support of terrorists from the Palestinian Authority.

In addition, the Court ruled Israel’s electoral authority must also allow Yachad candidate Baruch Marzel to run in the country’s national election on March 17 as well.

A panel of nine judges voted 8-1 in favor of reinstating both, with Deputy Supreme Court President Elyakim Rubenstein as the sole dissenting justice. The decision on the matter was moved up due to the proximity of the election.

Zoabi had been disqualified from running for the Balad Knesset seat by an overwhelming majority of the Central Elections Committee. This is the second time the High Court has overturned such a decision; a similar move took place just prior to the election of 2013.

Adalah NGO attorney Hassan Jabareen argued before the Court that all six statements attributed to the Balad MK that were used to disqualify her from running would “fall apart” once they were “placed into context.” Zoabi, he said, would be found to exhibit a record of consistent opposition to violence once her statements were examined, despite her statements in support of the Palestinian Authority.

Considering the law – and only the law – meant Zoabi’s recent six-month suspension by the Knesset also had no bearing on the case, he added. The MK’s recent visit to Qatar likewise was ruled a non-issue, inasmuch as Qatar is not considered an enemy state: Israel and Qatar actually do trade with each other.

Although the state described the MK’s conduct as “very troubling” it found that in principle it was forced to agree with Jabareen that there was no legal basis for her disqualification.

Nevertheless, attorney Yoav Mani, arguing for Yisrael Beytenu, warned the Court was setting the bar at an unreachable “high” in terms of the standard for evidence for disqualification. “When do you decide that enough is enough?” he asked. It was not about what the MK would do, Mani said – “say you’re against [her views] because they’re against who we are!”

Arguments for and against the disqualification of Baruch Marzel, candidate for the Yachad faction, were equally fierce.

Attorney Itamar Ben-Gvir argued – as had Zoabi’s lawyer – that Marzel’s statements had largely been taken out of context, and in some cases “he didn’t say them at all!”

He also contended that saying “Kahane was right” did not constitute a crime, nor did it violate the standard for election law violation. Marzel, once a member and leader in the banned “Kach” movement, had changed over the years, Ben-Gvir argued – but public and court opinion may not take that into account, with memory casting its long shadows back into the past instead.

A statement by Marzel made after an attack on a Jerusalem school that focuses efforts on co-existence was examined: the Court questioned its “anti-Arab” tone while Ben-Gvir said the intent was an expression of doubt that co-existence is possible today.

As with Zoabi, Rubinstein dissented, saying it seems likely Marzel has not changed at all. “If it walks and talks like a duck, why isn’t it a duck?” the judge asked.

Nevertheless, both candidates, seen as extremists by each others’ constituencies, are back in the race and will run for election with their parties on March 17.

The Supreme Court will rule next week on appeals by Knesset Member Hanin Zoabi and Baruch Marzel to overturn the Elections Committee decision to bar them from running in the elections.

One of the justices at the hearing Tuesday morning stated that the court generally does not get involved in politics, but there is a legal question concerning the authority of the Elections Committee.

It decided by a 27-6 vote to ban Zoabi from running because of incitement, and voted 17-16 to ban Marzel because of racism.

The worse possible court decision would be if the judges overturn only one of the petitioner’s eligibility. That is a virtual impossibility because the judges know that the public and political reaction would be catastrophic.

Allowing the Elections Committees decision also could be catastrophic for the future because it would set a precedent that political parties, who comprise the committee, can decide who is a racist and who incites.

The Elections Committee voted 17-16 on Thursday to ban right-wing activist Baruch Marzel from running for the Knesset as a candidate of the new Yachad party, headed by Eli Yishai.

Marzel was labeled a racist, but the narrow margin to toss him out of the elections contrasted with the 27-6 vote earlier in the day to ban Arab Knesset Member Hanin Zoabi from seeking re-election.

The United Arab List will appeal to the Supreme Court to overthrow the committee decision against Zoabi, and Marzel also is likely to appeal.

It will be surprising if the court does not overturn the committee decision. Once the committee has the authority to decide who is a terrorist and who is a racist, the Knesset might as well close down.

There have been grounds for jailing Zoabi for her anti-Israeli activities, but no one has had the political courage to do so.

Marzel is an easier target because right-wing extremists usually see the other side of prison before left-wing extremists. Marzel previously has been handed a suspended 12-month jail sentence.

He has reportedly called on the IDF to target left-wing Uri Avnery, who would have fallen off the left side of Planet Earth long ago if it were flat. Peace Now chairman Yariv Oppenheimer last year filed a complaint with police against Marzel for alleged death threats by Marzel’s followers.

Regarding homosexuals, he has said Israel should conduct a “holy war” against them.

Yachad has placed Marzel on the fourth spot in its list of candidates, guaranteeing him a seat in the Knesset if the party passes the minimum number of votes required for party representation.

The party jumped in the polls the past week. After having been on the borderline of entering the Knesset, surveys now indicate Yachad will win five seats, and one new poll released on Thursday rates it with six seats.

After the Election Committee decision, Marzel said, “The left-wing is gagging mouths. It has been proven that my positions are not racist. We are not afraid and will continue to act for the Land and People of Israeli and the Torah.”

He sounds like the national religious version of some Haredi MKs who know they speak for God, and his candidacy in the Yachad party  was blessed by several national religious rabbis pulling the strings behind the scenes.

If the leftists want “anyone but Bibi,” a select group of rabbis want “anyone but Naftali Bennett, who broke the taboo of the old-guard National Religious Party and brought secular nationalists into his new Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) party.

The Central Elections Committee Thursday overwhelmingly against Arab Knesset Member Hanin Zoabi’s eligibility for running for election because of her association with terror.

The Joint Arab List, which includes Zoabi’s Balad party, will appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, where Zoabi stands a good chance of a ruling in her favor.

The 27-6 vote in the committee rejected arguments by the attorney-general that banning Zoabi would be an open invitation to the Supreme Court to get involved in the political process.

Weinstein also advised against disqualifying right-wing activist Baruch Marzel, whose candidacy with the Yachad party also has been appealed to the committee, which has not yet decided on his eligibility.

The opposition to Zoabi’s candidacy by the Herzog-Livni-led “Zionist Camp” party cemented her disqualification, which also was backed by delegates from the Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home), Likud, Yisrael Beiteinu, Shas and Yachad parties.

Meretz and the Joint Arab List voted in favor of Zoabi.

The vote paved the way for similar action against Marzel, who later on the day also was disqualified.

Both Zoabi and Marzel, who is not a MK, have shown a proficiency for grabbing headlines. Zoabi is known for her nasty language against the IDF and right-wing Jews, and she also was onboard the Mavi Marmara boat in the flotilla led by IHH terrorists nearly six years ago to break the Israeli maritime embargo on Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

Marzel has been involved in stunts such as marching with an Israeli flag in the city of Umm el-Fahm, which also serves as the headquarters for the northern branch of the radical Islamic Movement.

Marzel and Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman, along with the new Yachad party, petitioned the Election Committee to bar Zoabi from running.

The committee hearing was nothing less than a shouting match between Zoabi and hecklers, including Marzel, who jeered when she said Marzel and Lieberman “turned my nation into terrorists,” referring to her nation as “Palestinian.”

Yachad party chairman Eli Yishai shouted at Zoabi that she is a terrorist.

A Israeli Olah, who played dead in 2011 and escaped the same deadly fate her American-Christian travelling companion met at the hands of Palestinian Authority terrorists, wrote on her Facebook page Saturday that she recently protected  “Muslim Zionist” teenager Mohammed Zoabi from Arabs who wanted to murder him.

Zoabi is a relative of anti-Zionist Knesset Member Hanin Zoabi. Kay Wilson said she hid him for nearly a month after death threats following his posting a YouTube video showing him holding an Israel flag and saying how proud he is to be an Israeli citizen.

Freedom of speech is not very popular among anti-Zionists unless it is to express hatred of Jews and Israel. Wilson posted a photo of herself and Mohammed on her Facebook page and wrote, “I want to use this extraordinary photo and the story behind it in the hope that people will see what a remarkable yet fragmented nation Israel is…..

“It was me, me, a terror victim, stabbed 13 times by Palestinians, who hid this Arab teenager in my house for nearly a month while Arabs were threatening his life. In addition to hiding him, I was also able to find Mohammed a wonderful community of Jews and Christians in the USA; a community that financed his schooling, took him into their homes, helped him with his visa and treated him like a son,” she wrote.

If it weren’t for Wilson’s having been a victim of terror, this would not have turned out to be one of those bizarre but not rare “only in Israel” stories.

She probably would never have thought of Mohammed, whose YouTube really shouldn’t be considered bizarre, despite an increasing number of  Arabs with Israeli citizenship who are turning against the country. They probably are a minority, but so are ISIS, Peace Now and Neturei Karta. There is no intention to compare these groups, but all of them have one thing in common – they make trouble far beyond what their numbers justify.

Wilson said she has suffered “lifelong” trauma from the attack that killed Kristine Luken, with whom she was hiking in the Jerusalem Forest when Arab terrorists stabbed them.

Wilson was born in England but moved to Israel several years after her first visit and eventually became a tour guide.

During their hike, the terrorists stabbed both women. Wilson fought her attacker but was overpowered. She was seriously wounded but conscious.

One of the attackers “came back a few minutes later to verify the kill. He stabbed me in the chest,” Wilson said. “A few minutes later I woke up, but not in the same place where I had been stabbed.” She played dead so the attackers wouldn’t finish her off. Lukens cried from her wounds until a final stab killed her.

Wilson wrote that she her trauma brought her to help Mohammed “because I admired his courage and because like me, he is a human being. I helped him because I know from the machete scars on my own back, that death threats should always be taken seriously.

“It was not one way. Mohammed helped me too. There are many things I am unable to do due to being in constant pain as a result of being beaten and smashed to a pulp by Palestinian terrorists. Mohammed was not a guest; he was a friend and a great asset,” she wrote on Saturday.

Wilson continued:

I also helped Mohammed Zoabi because our democracy – the only one in the Middle East – is flawed to absurdity.

In the name of our democracy, Mohammed’s relative, MK Hanin Zoabi irresponsibly abused her free speech by stating that kidnapping and murdering three Israeli teenagers does not amount to terrorism. Upholding the value of free-speech is the essence of a democracy, yet abuse of any kind, including the abuse of free-speech, always has ethical and social consequences.

The High Court has rejected an attempt by Israeli Arab Knesset Member Hanin Zoabi of the Balad party to block the parliament from banning her activity.

One after another, the five-member panel of justices scored Zoabi for her claims that she backs non-violence. Zoabi clearly identifed with the Hamas kidnap-murderers of three yeshiva students in Gush Etzion in a broadcast interview on Radio Tel Aviv last June, before it was known that the boys had been murdered.

Zoabi was barred for six months from all Knesset activity other than voting in response to a flurry of complaints from her colleagues — including Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein — about a statement she made regarding the abduction and particularly brutal murder of Eyal Yifrach, Naftali Frenkel and Gilad Sha’ar  were not guilty of terrorism.

“Is it strange that people living under occupation and living impossible lives, in a situation where Israel kidnaps new prisoners every day, is it strange that they act this way? They are not terrorists. Even if I do not agree with them, they are people who do not see any way open to change their reality, and they are compelled to use means like these until Israel wakes up and sees the suffering, feels the suffering of the other.”

The complaints charging Zoabi with incitement led the Knesset Ethics Committee to ban Zoabi at the end of July from making speeches, submitting legal questions or initiating debates from the plenum or in committee for half a year. It was the maximum punishment the committee was allowed to impose.

On October 7 Zoabi tried to appeal the ruling in committee, calling it a violation of freedom of speech. That effort failed, and the ban was confirmed by the full plenum at the end of October.

However, Zoabi has still won a victory: despite breaking the laws of the state by repeatedly visiting enemy nations and participating in events clearly as an advocate for an enemy entity (the Palestinian Authority), Zoabi has yet to be charged with treason.

Moreover, despite her verbal support for an enemy during wartime in July – when Israel was facing impending conflict with the Hamas terrorist organization, as she obviously knew, being a privileged lawmaker – Zoabi is free.

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein ruled in the current case that Zoabi’s statements in July did not constitute criminal incitement.