Outrage as notorious Israeli politician 'shoots Palestinian Knesset member dead' in campaign video

An Israeli member of Knesset (MK) has released a disturbing campaign video where he is seen shooting dead a rival Palestinian lawmaker.

Oren Hazan's face is superimposed onto a character from the cowboy film The Good the Bad and the Ugly. In the scene he is seen lying in a bathtub as a man enters the room, whose face is replaced with that of Palestinian rival MK Jamal Zahalka.

When the character with Zahalka's face points a gun at the man in the bathtub, a brief verbal exchange ensues. An arm emerges from the soapy suds and Hazan fires a number of rounds at the man, killing him.

Zahalka, from the Palestinian-majority Balad Party, filed a complaint to Israeli police, saying Hazan was inciting his murder, according to Haaretz.

"We are now filing a complaint with the police and the Central Elections Committee in the hope that the law enforcement authorities may finally find it necessary to bring to justice the clear and unequivocal incitement to murder a public figure," he said, according to Israeli media.

Zahalka has also called for Facebook to remove the video, which he said was racist and inciting violence against him. At the time this story was published, the video was still on the social media platform.

"In Hazan's video clip, he is seen playing the role of the 'Ugly,' and that is truly the description he deserves," said Zahalka.

"But this is not a movie, instead it is a call for murder. In an atmosphere which fuels incitement against the Arab public and its representatives, this is dangerous - very dangerous."

A spokesperson for Zahalka said that the video was just one example of pervasive anti-Palestinian agitprop faced by Arab MKs.

Israeli-American journalist Mairav Zonszein told The New Arab that examples of anti-Palestinian propaganda are particularly widespread during election season in Israel.

"Israel's election campaign videos - not just by right-wing parties but also the self-declared centrist ones - is so rife with overt racism and contempt for anyone who challenges the status quo, that it almost seems like it is satire," said Zonszein. 

"But sadly, it is in fact a good reflection of the Israeli political climate, where Palestinians are non-existent, either because they are ignored, or, as in the case of Oren Hazan's video, murdered."

Hazan is a highly controversial figure in Israeli politics, who commands support of some far-right sections of society.

Hazan notoriously boarded a bus carrying family members of Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli, hurling insults at them, saying the detainees should be dead.

Israel Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is seeking re-election next month, and has formed an alliance with far-right politicians, many of whom have been accused of anti-Palestinian racism.