Arab lawmaker quits Israeli cabinet

Cairo: Israeli Arab lawmaker Azmi Bishara, under criminal investigation in, resigned from the Knesset on Sunday at the Israeli embassy in Cairo and said he would stay abroad for a time because of a "racist" climate.

Israeli embassy spokesman Benny Sharoni confirmed that Bishara, the subject of an Israeli police investigation into unspecified criminal allegations, handed his resignation to Ambassador Shalom Cohen at a meeting on Sunday morning.

Bishara, who heads the anti-Zionist party Balad, has clashed with 's justice system in the past by making solidarity trips to and and invoking parliamentary immunity to evade prosecution for visiting "enemy states".

"Exile is not an option. Return is definite but the matter will take some time and arrangements. I want to set the rules of the game," Bishara told the Arab news channel Al Jazeera.

"I have commitments now with other countries which I cannot make if I were there. This is why I decided to end my responsibilities with my former post."

He said that if he stayed in legal proceedings could drag on for years and he would not be able to leave. There's no point now to clinging to parliamentary status and immunity in this right-wing, fascist, racist orchestra," he added.

"When return shall be exactly is linked to dear brothers in the Arab nation and inside (and the Palestinian territories) with whom I must consult to see where is the best place at this point to participate," he said.

An Israeli court last week partially lifted a gag order on the inquiry into Bishara, allowing police to announce that its international crimes unit is investigating him.

Bishara, 50 and from the mainly Arab town of Nazareth, has a doctorate in philosophy and has been in parliament since 1996. He is one of 13 Arab lawmakers in the Knesset.

He has spoken of resigning for some time but an aide said the police inquiry had accelerated his decision.