Israel city mayor's Arab ban sparks uproar

JERUSALEM -- The mayor of a southern Israeli city sparked a national uproar yesterday by barring Israeli Arab construction workers from jobs in local preschools, citing security concerns after a rash of attacks by Palestinian assailants elsewhere in the country.

The proposal was condemned as racist by Israeli leaders, but it reflected the tense mood in the country and deepened long-standing divisions between the nation's Jewish majority and Arab minority.

Israel has been on edge following a wave of Palestinian attacks that has killed 11 people over the past month, including five this week in an assault on a Jerusalem synagogue.

Responding to the unrest, Ashkelon Mayor Itamar Shimoni announced that Israeli Arab laborers renovating bomb shelters in local kindergartens would be barred from their jobs. He also ordered more security at construction sites where Arab laborers are employed.

"Anyone who thinks this is illegal can take me to court," Shimoni said. "At this time, I prefer to be taken to court and not, God forbid, to attend the funeral of one of the children from kindergartens."

The workers in Ashkelon are Arab citizens of Israel, unlike the Palestinian attackers from the West Bank and east Jerusalem, and it appeared unlikely the order would last for long. Justice Minister Tzipi Livni called it illegal and ordered the attorney general to take action.

"We must not generalize about an entire public due to a small and violent minority," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. "The vast majority of Israel's Arab citizens are law abiding and whoever breaks the law -- we will take determined and vigorous action against him."

Israeli leaders say they place great importance on protecting the civil rights of the Arab minority. But Arabs, who make up about 20 percent of Israel's population, often complain of being treated as second-class citizens and suffer from a high poverty rate, discrimination and poor public services.

In Ashkelon, dozens of people demonstrated late yesterday in support of Shimoni.

"It's clear that there are good [Arabs] and bad ones, and it's clear there are more good ones than bad ones. But no one can point at them and say who is good and who is bad," Liraz Makhlouf, a mother of two children, told Israel's Channel 10.

On Sunday, Netanyahu plans to present a "nationality" law to his Cabinet that he said is meant to solidify Israel's status as the Jewish people's homeland. He said the law "will enshrine the full equality" of every citizen.

But the legislation has raised fears among Arabs that it will undermine their status.