Israel installs first Muslim Cabinet minister

Israel today installed the first Muslim Cabinet minister in its 58-year history, with parliament approving his appointment by a wide margin.

Raleb Majadele’s appointment to the Cabinet, which the government billed as a step towards equality for Muslim Arabs, Israel’s largest minority, passed by a vote of 59 to 23. Then Majadele was sworn in.

The appointment was mired for weeks by political infighting and charges of racism. It drew criticism from hardliners who said the move was little more than political expediency. Even Arab politicians dismissed the development, saying the government has little real interest in improving the lot of Israel’s Arabs.

Majadele said his goals as a Cabinet minister would be “promoting co-existence between the two peoples inside the state, and promoting dialogue between the Palestinians and the Israelis towards negotiations and political agreement”.

Majadele, a parliamentary backbencher from the centrist Labour Party, said his appointment is meant to give representation to Israel’s Arabs, who make up about 20% of the country’s seven million citizens. He has predicted that, in the future, every Israeli government will be obliged to include an Arab minister.

“The present government is proud to be the first government to give executive representation to the Arab Muslim minority,” said Miri Eisin, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Israel’s parliament has always had Arab members – today, they number 13 out of 120. But the country has had only one Arab Cabinet minister before – Salah Tarif, a Druse, who was appointed in 2001 and who was forced to resign nine months later under a cloud of corruption allegations.