Arab-Israeli MK Haneen Zoabi. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

JNS.org – Israeli Arab Member of Knesset Hanin Zoabi (Balad) drew widespread condemnation by saying Sunday that the Israel Defense Forces is worse than the Islamic State terrorist group.

“They (Islamic State) kill one person with a knife each time, while the IDF kills dozens of Palestinians at a time by pressing a button,” Zoabi told Israel’s Channel 2.

Fellow Balad member MK Basel Ghattas echoed Zoabi’s remarks in an interview with Army Radio on Monday, saying that “unlike the IDF,” Islamic State never committed crimes against humanity.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman responded by posting a status on Facebook titled “A terror organization named Balad.” Lieberman accused Balad of becoming a part of Hamas, and its members of helping the Palestinian terror group “while using the Knesset to advance terrorism and taking advantage of their parliamentary immunity.”

“After their former leader, Azmi Bishara, fled from Israel because he was suspected of spying against Israel and aiding Hezbollah, the members of Balad continued, and even increased, their anti-state activity,” Lieberman wrote.

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) called the Balad remarks “a clear case of defamation, treason, and sedition.”