Israel's interior minister calls Palestinian Knesset members 'terrorists in suits'

Israeli Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked attacked Palestinian Knesset Members on Friday describing them as terrorists.

Responding to a video published by the Arab Front for Change parliamentary coalition, which shows Israeli abuses in occupied East Jerusalem’s Shuafat camp, Shaked called the coalition members "terrorists in suits".

Palestinians with Israeli citizenship make up over 20% of Israel's population but they suffer from widespread discrimination, with right-wing politicians engaging in frequent incitement against them.

The video places blame on Shaked and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid for violence in the Shuafat camp.

כשאנחנו רואים את המהומות והעימותים במזרח ירושלים ואז את הסרטון האנטי ישראלי הזה, הכל מתחבר.
חד"ש ותע"ל הם מחבלים בחליפות שמסיתים את ערביי ישראל נגד הממשלה ונגד המדינה. אין להם מקום בכנסת ישראל. https://t.co/mxRXGNTVtb

— איילת שקד Ayelet Shaked (@Ayelet__Shaked) October 13, 2022

"When we see the riots and clashes in East Jerusalem and then this anti-Israeli video, everything falls into place. Hadash and Ta’al [parties] are terrorists in suits that incite Israeli Arabs against the government and the state. They have no place in the Israeli Knesset," Shaked wrote on Twitter.

Shaked said that she would continue to push for revoking the citizenship of "the terrorists" and their families and demolish their homes, as part of her philosophy of "everything possible to restore deterrence."

She has also threatened to sue the party for "defamation".

Israeli forces have for days stormed the Shuafat camp in East Jerusalem and towns in the West Bank in search of alleged perpetrators, imposing a siege killing and wounding Palestinians.

Shaked is a hard-right politician with a history of anti-Arab statements.

Israelis go to the polls to vote for a new Knesset for the fifth time in three years on November 1.