Edelstein refused to sign a letter of resignation from Yunis because it was written only in Arabic and demanded that he submit it in Hebrew.
By: World Israel News Staff
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein on Wednesday refused to sign a letter of resignation submitted by an Israeli-Arab Member of Knesset because it was written only in Arabic. Edelstein demanded that he submit it in Hebrew, the state’s language.
MK Wael Yunes of the Joint Arab List, who is resigning from the Knesset as part of a rotation agreement within his party, cannot resign without the signature of the Knesset speaker.
“No one would sign a document he cannot read,” Edelstein tweeted. “I respect the Arabic language, but this is a basic issue.”
“It is appropriate that a letter of resignation be submitted to the Knesset in Hebrew as well,” he added in a statement.
This incident occurred just three weeks after the Knesset passed the nation-state law, which designates Hebrew as the language of the state, while the Arabic language was given a “special status.”
Yunis alleged that Edelstein’s rejection of his letter “is a practical translation of the section which revokes the official status of the Arabic language.”
“It is inconceivable that the Knesset speaker will refuse to sign the letter of resignation just because it is written in Arabic,” he stated.
Yunis said he was determined to submit his letter of resignation in Arabic and that Edelstein “must accept it.”