Whiff Of Scandal Surrounds Israel's New Tourism Minister
Sydney Morning Herald
Thursday March 1, 2007
IN HER first week as Israel's new Tourism Minister, far-right politician Esterina Tartman has announced she wants to strip citizenship from all Arab-Israelis who refuse to swear loyalty to their country as a Jewish state.
Her remarks came on the day that a parliamentary ethics committee decided not to take action against her for attacking the appointment of Israel's first Arab Muslim minister as "assimilation" and "a lethal blow to Zionism".In a television interview on Tuesday, Ms Tartman said that "any citizen who is not loyal to the idea of a Jewish state, his citizenship should be rescinded".About one-fifth of Israel's 7 million people are Arabs, most of whom claim that instead of being a legally Jewish state, Israel should treat all its citizens equally, regardless or race or religion. Ms Tartman on Sunday was promoted to the key job of attracting foreign visitors to Israel.Her appointment has been clouded by reports that she was awarded more than 2.5 million shekels ($750,000) in state and private compensation for a traffic accident which, she claimed, left her unfit to work full-time.It was also reported yesterday that Ms Tartman, chairwoman of the ultra-nationalist Russian immigrant party Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel is Our Home), is being investigated by police for boasting false qualifications to fraudulently obtain employment and pay rises.It emerged this week that she has wrongfully claimed to have a masters degree from the prestigious Hebrew University anda degree from Bar Ilan University in Tel Aviv.Following her appointment to the cabinet on Sunday, an Israeli TV station reported that a Haifa court awarded her 2.5 million shekels after she claimed that a 1997 traffic accident had left her with impaired memory and concentration and unable to work for more than four hours a day. Fourteen months ago she managed to have this award increased on appeal. Ha'aretz reported on Tuesday that despite her disability, Ms Tartman had gone on to win a Knesset seat, chair the state audit committee and her own party caucus, found an employment agency, act as marketing manager for a chemicals company and serve as director and committee member for an insurance agency.Asked about her disability claim while she was running for the Knesset, Ms Tartman said: "The Knesset is easy work, not continuous, and involves mainly talking."
© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald