Sarah Zoabi called herself a “proud Zionist” and said she does not identify with any other flag or country other than Israel. Photo: Screenshot.

The mother of Israeli-Arab Israel supporter Muhammad Zoabi expressed pride in being a Zionist as she appeared as a contestant on the latest season of the popular cooking show MasterChef Israel.

Sarah Zoabi introduced herself to viewers as an “Arab, Muslim, Israeli, proud Zionist” from the northern city of Nazareth. When one of the show’s judges asked her to elaborate on her nationality and beliefs, she said, “I believe in the right of the Jewish people to have their own country, which is the state of Israel, the holy land.”

“I’m sure that the people who hear me will say: ‘what, have you lost your mind? How can you say you are a Zionist?’ I want to say to all the Arab [citizens] of Israel to wake up,” she continued. “We live in paradise. Compared to other countries, to Arab countries – we live in paradise.”

The contestant also elaborated on her loyalty to Israel, saying she doesn’t have “another state” or “another flag” with which she identifies. She added, “With all due respect to [the Arab] nation, this doesn’t imply treason. I never harmed anyone.”

Praising the Jewish state, she said there is no other country where she could receive the same freedoms as in Israel. She asserted that 100 percent of Israeli Arabs would prefer living in Israel over Palestinian rule, if given the choice.

“No one will agree. That’s what I believe,” she said. “It will cost me, I know that. Same way it cost my son. I’m the mother of the Arab boy, Muhammad Zoabi, who’s life was threatened and who faced death threats over his opinions.”

Her son, Muhammad, was forced to go into hiding last summer after he publicly expressed support for Israel. At the time, he published a video online calling for the the return of three Israeli teenagers – Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaer and Eyal Yifrah – who were abducted and murdered in June by Hamas terrorists in the West Bank. He found shelter at the home of an Israeli terror victim in Israel before fleeing to the U.S.

Muhammad resurfaced in January with a post on his Facebook page. He said his need to go into hiding was partially a result of his effort to “show the world the real face of regular Arabs and Muslims who’re simply sick of their leaders’ corruption and unlimited hate.”

Muhammad is a cousin of Israeli-Arab parliamentarian Haneen Zoabi, whose provocative anti-Zionist activism nearly cost her her Knesset seat.

Watch the video of Sarah Zoabi on MasterChef Israel below: