Druze man jailed over spying for Israel slams Nationality Law

Arutz Sheva Staff

Azzam Azzam, who served 8 years in Egypt on charges of spying for Israel, says ‘Nationality Law discriminates against us.’

Azzam Azzam / Flash 90

Azzam Azzam, an Israeli Druze who was imprisoned in Egypt on charges of spying for Israel, said this morning in an interview with Army Radio that “The Nationality Law discriminates against us.”

In addition, Azzam called on Minister of Communications Ayoub Kara to resign and said: “You are a Druze since you were born and will die Druze. I am not ready to abandon my community for a role – a role that will come and go. You cannot forget your roots.”

The IDF said yesterday that it had suspended for two weeks Druze officer Amir Jamal, who published a Facebook post against the Nationality Law.

At the beginning of the week, Jamal, 23, who serves as a company commander, posted an open letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu on Facebook announcing that he had decided not to continue his military career and that he calls on community leaders to promote a cessation of compulsory conscription for Druze.

“Why do I have to serve the State of Israel, the state that my two brothers and I served with devotion, with mission, and love of the homeland, and in the end what do we get?” Jamal wrote, “to be second class citizens. To continue and serve the state? I don’t want to continue, and I am sure that hundreds more people will stop serving and will be discharged from the army following your decision, Netanyahu, yours and your government. “