'Jewish Home' Party Against Arab Draft
Knesset member Yoni Chetboun opposes (clearly and repeatedly) the drafting of Israeli Arabs to the army: ''I don't want an Arab in IDF uniform.''
When I ask new Knesset member Yoni Chetboun of the HaBayit HaYehudi party if he supports former Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman's demand to impose the ultra-Orthodox draft law on Israeli Arabs as well, Chetboun manages to surprise me. Not only because he expresses a position that is the polar opposite of Liberman's, but mainly because of the way he chooses to tell it; the unaffected way he casually says, "I don't want an Arab in IDF uniform."
You surprised me. I was sure you would side with Liberman …
"I am against bringing the Arabs into this story. If I were an ultra-Orthodox Jew, I would be embarrassed to be compared to an Arab. What does it say when you compare an ultra-Orthodox, who is a Jewish Israeli civilian living here in the state, to an Arab with a totally different narrative, who views the army as an occupying power?"
This is not a mere slip of the tongue, but an entire worldview. I understand this immediately when Chetboun repeats and enlarges on his position regarding drafting Arabs, and allows me an unfiltered glimpse into his world.
