Arab Knesset members say they will sue Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Politicians make threat over prime minister’s alleged ‘incitement’ against Arab-Israelis in wake of recent wildfires that were blamed on terrorism

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu angered many Palestinian-Israeli politicians and citizens over calls for anyone found guilty of arson to be stripped of their citizenship (Associated Press)

Arab representatives of Israel's parliament have threatened to sue Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over comments he made about Palestinians in the wake of huge wildfires that caused unprecedented damage in Israel and the West bank last month that are thought to have been fanned by arson.

Members of the Arab Joint List party have asked Israel’s Attorney General, Avichai Mandelblit, to open a case into public threats Mr Netanyahu made saying anyone found guilty of starting the fires would be treated as “terrorists” and their citizenship revoked.

“We are facing arsonist terror. In front of arsonist terror we are also facing incitement and also arson. For us they are the same. And we will bring our full legal force to get those responsible," he said on November 25.

A law against incitement to violence exists on the books in Israel, but the attorney general’s office reviews high profile matters on a case-by-case basis.

"Netanyahu is someone who systematically incites against us. We have two goals: To officially classify him as an inciter, and for us to gain more legitimacy here in Israel," head of the Joint List Ayman Odeh said.

"While he constantly makes such comments, we want to make him think twice about saying the things he does in the future."

Mr Netanyahu's office could not be immediately reached for comment.

Several other high-ranking officials called for harsh punishments for perpetrators of the fires, including home demolitions -a common tactic used against Palestinian citizens of Israel. "Only those to whom the country does not belong are capable of burning it," right wing Education Minister Naftali Bennett said in a tweet.

Wildfires last month caused thousands to evacuate the city of Haifa (AP)

Such language was dangerous, and could incite Israelis to acts of revenge against Palestinians, the Joint List said.

If appeals to the attorney general and the Israeli High Court fail, the party will take Netanyahu to trial internationally instead, Mr Odeh said. However, legal experts told Al Jazeera such action was unlikely to be successful, and Joint List’s threats are empty, designed to pacify Palestinian anger over the fallout from the fires.

Forty Palestinians were arrested in connection to the some 1,700 fires that raged through northern Israel and parts of the West Bank at the end of November, shutting down roads and schools and causing the evacuation of 60,000 people in the city of Haifa. Twenty-four are still being questioned, an Israeli police spokesperson said.