An Arab-Israeli Member of the Knesset has announced his resign due to the country’s controversial new Nation State law — but only in October, allowing him to claim three month’s extra salary during the parliamentary recess.
Zoheir Bahloul, a Zionist Union MK, made the announcement on Israel’s Chadashot news channel.
He said the law made “the Arab population officially, constitutionally outside the realms of equality in Israel.
“I can’t sit on the fence.”
EXPLAINER: What is Israel's new Nation State law?
“My grandchildren will ask me what I did. I need to be able to answer them by saying and say, ‘I resigned because of this harsh law that should have brought all the Israelis out onto the barricades and we wonder why they have not.”
But Jerusalem Post reporter Gil Hoffman said: “He didn’t say he's quitting tomorrow. He's apparently going to take his salary for 3 months of doing nothing during the Knesset's long recess and quit when parliament returns October 14.”
“Asked why he isn’t leaving immediately, Bahloul's assistant said he is in the middle of helping the public on key issues and wants to finish his work before he goes,” Mr Hoffman subsequently tweeted.
By contrast, the resignation of former Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog, who is standing down to become the new head of the Jewish Agency, takes effect on Tuesday.
