Relatives of a Muslim-Arab woman set to run as a candidate in the primaries of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party denounced her as disloyal and vowed to shun her until she changes tack. Dima Tayeh, from the northern Israeli-Arab village of Kafr Manda, made headlines this week by announcing she would compete in the right-wing party’s primaries ahead of upcoming elections set for April 9. In a television interview, Tayeh hailed Netanyahu as a strong leader and expressed support for the so-called Nation-State Law, a controversial quasi-constitutional bill passed last year that defines Israel uniquely as a Jewish state and thus was viewed as discriminatory by the country’s minority populations. In response, the would-be politician’s family released a statement rejecting her positions and explaining that “we will not make contact with her or give her any assistance until she retracts her words and declares loyalty to her people and her faith.” Tayeh apparently has been a member of Likud for six years, believing that the party can “provide security to the nation, a flourishing economy and can really include varied opinions and cultures.”
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