The United States said late Thursday it wanted to see broad participation in this month's Israeli elections, implicitly criticizing the disqualification by the Central Elections Committee of Israeli Arab Members of Knesset, Ahmed Tibi and Azmi Bishara and the latter's Balad party.
"We're of course interested in broad participation in the political process in Israel, as we are elsewhere," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told a daily briefing.
"I'm not commenting on the particular individuals or the parties or the political aspects of this. I'm commenting on the question of the broadest possible participation in the political process," he added.
Boucher conveyed the United States was following closely the case of the Israeli Arab politicians. "We'll... see what happens as it proceeds to review by the courts," he added. (Albawaba.com)
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