Last update - 23:02 16/08/2006
Arab MKs refuse to sign letter urging captive soldiers' release
By Gideon Alon, Haaretz Correspondent

The leaders of the three Arab Knesset factions on Wednesday refused to sign a letter to political and community leaders worldwide calling for the release of three IDF soldiers being held captive in Lebanon and Gaza.

MK Jamal Zahalka (Balad) said "We do not sign such documents. This issue will only be solved in negotiations for a prisoner exchange."

The petition, written at the initiative of MK Zevulun Orlev of the National Religious Party faction, was sent to leaders of parliament worldwide, the International Red Cross, and the heads of churches and Jewish communities.

The letter stated that it reflects the positions of 110 of 120 MKs.

Orlev asked MK Dov Khenin (Hadash), to use his influence with Arab MKs to persuade them to sign, but they remained opposed.

The letter indicated that "the three kidnapped soldiers have been held for over a month, without information on their whereabouts, or on their heath or emotional conditions."

Hezbollah and Hamas, it continued, are preventing any communication between the soldiers and the outside world.

These are the same Arab members of Knesset that were holding anti war demonstrations during the war.

It is time to face a bitter fact, calling these members of Knesset "Israeli" Arabs is a joke they are not Israeli anything.