RAMALLAH: Several rightwing Israeli parliamentarians and parties have requested that Israel's Central Election Committee ban Arab parties from running in the upcoming Knesset elections scheduled for January 2013, Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported. Knesset members David Rotem, Ben Ari, and Aryeh Eldad have called for one or more Arab parties to be barred from participating. Rotem, who is from the Yisreal Beitunu party, wants the Balad ticket, an Arab coalition, banned; Ari and Eldad want Balad and the United Arab List banned. Others want to disqualify Palestinian Arab MK Hanin Zoabi from running for participating in the Mavi Marmara, the 2010 Gaza flotilla that attempted to break Israel's blockade on the narrow coastal strip. They added that Zoabi denies Israel's right to exist as an exclusively Jewish state, which they imply is a form of treason. Influential and popular Arab MK Ahmad Tibi has also come under attack from rightwing Israeli politicians.