Israel rewrites history textbook
The Arab version of Israel’s creation has been added to a history textbook.
Yuli Tamir, the education minister, said that many in Israel shut their eyes to the issue.
However, other Israeli politicians say they will fight the decision to introduce the book insisting that it makes Israel look as if it is apologising for its own existence.
Avigdor Lieberman, strategic affairs minister, denounced the book, blaming “the masochism and defeatism of the Israeli left, which constantly seeks to apologise, while we did what we had to”.
Benjamin Netanyahu, head of the right-wing Likud party, said that Tamir should resign for approving use of the phrase, arguing that the Jewish state’s right to exist should not be open to debate.
“Shall we inject Arab propaganda into our schools with our own hands?” he said.
Confronting history
The book is aimed at eight- to nine-year-old Arab children in Israel’s largely separate public school system.
Arab citizens make up about one-fifth of Israel’s population of seven million.
Zevulun Orlev, a politician with the National Union party, said that Israel risked encouraging its own Arab citizens to revolt rather than accept its rule.
“We lend legitimacy to Arabs seeing our independence as their disaster. How then can we teach the same pupil to be a loyal citizen?”