Jewish-Arab party says Israel 'cooperates' with jihadists against Syrian people
Members of Israeli Druze community hold marches in support of embattled brethren in Syria
The Jewish-Arab Hadash party, a part of the Joint Arab List – the third largest party in the Knesset – issued a controversial statement that says Israel "cooperates" with the Syrian jihadist group al-Nusra Front, which has links to al-Qaida.
Said alleged cooperation is "indicative of the partnership between them and American imperialism in their plan to break up Syria and divide the Syrian people," the Jerusalem Post quoted Hadash spokesman Raja Zaatry as saying.
The communist Hadash has previously attracted much criticism in Israel, including among both Jewish and Arab supporters for refusing to renounce its former support for the regime of President Bashar Assad, though it did tone it down somewhat.
Such rhetoric contradicts efforts by MK Ayman Odeh of Hadash, who heads the Joint Arab List, as well as other moderate forces in the party, to reach out to the Jewish public before and after the elections.
Meanwhile, members of the Druze community in Israel held marches and rallies Sunday to support their brethren in Syria, who are threatened both by Nusra and Islamic State group militants.
Some 1,000 people participated in the events, including local clergy members, with hundreds waving the multi-color Druze flags. Participants voiced their opposition to the jihadists and demanded to protect the Druze.
MK Abdullah Abu Maaruf of the Joint Arab List, a resident of the Druze village Yarka said that both the Islamic State and Nusra Front are "inventions of the West to divide Syria," echoing common conspiracy theories. "Let them keep their hands off Syria and leave the Syrian people alone."
The Druze, as well as other Israeli Arabs are divided on the Syrian civil war, with some supporting Assad's regime and some denouncing it.