Born in
Baqa al-Gharbiyye, as a teenager Majadele was a member of
HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed youth movement, becoming its secretary. A businessman, he became secretary of the Regional Workers Council, and headed the Education and Sport department of the
Histadrut trade union. He joined the
Labor Party, and was placed twentieth on the party's list for the
2003 Knesset elections. Although the party won only 19 seats, Majadele entered the Knesset on 28 June 2004 as a replacement for
Avraham Burg, who had resigned from the Knesset and public life and become a businessman. Majadele was re-elected in the
2006 elections. On 10 January 2007, Labor leader
Amir Peretz announced that Majadele would be appointed Minister of Science, Culture and Sport. On 28 January 2007 the cabinet voted to appoint him
Minister without Portfolio. He sparked controversy when he publicly refused to sing Hatikvah, the Israel national anthem, stating that it was written for Jews only. He went on to point that although he does not participate in singing
Hatikvah, he does express respect for the song by standing up when it is sung, and that he does not deny that Israel is a Jewish state. His appointment was confirmed by a vote in which all ministers except the chairman of
Yisrael Beiteinu,
Avigdor Lieberman, voted in favour. The latter criticism was itself extremely controversial, with lawmakers from across the political spectrum branding Lieberman's and Tartman's remarks racist; a number of Labor lawmakers demanded that Yisrael Beiteinu be expelled from the governing coalition as a condition of Labor continuing to participate in the government. but lost his seat as Labor were reduced to 13 representatives. However, he re-entered the Knesset on 13 April 2010 as a replacement for
Yuli Tamir, who had resigned her seat. For the
2013 elections he was placed seventeenth on the party's list, and lost his seat again as the Labor Party won only 15 seats. However, he re-entered the Knesset on 14 December 2014 to serve as a replacement for
Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, who resigned for health reasons after
Danny Atar (who had been sixteenth on the party list) gave up the opportunity to take his place. He did not contest the
2015 elections, losing his seat. ==See also==