Police Detain Far-Rightist: Made Death Threats against MK Odeh

Israeli police detained a far-right extremist on Thursday, September 11, who reportedly had threatened the life of Hadash member of the Knesset Ayman Odeh.

MK Odeh, head of the Joint List, told Al Ittihad, the Arabic-language daily newspaper of the Communist Party, that the extremist was detained by Israeli police after investigating comments he allegedly published on social media. Odeh said he held Israeli authorities “fully responsible” for violations against Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel, slamming government incitement against them in an attempt to prevent their realizing their rights.

MK Ayman Odeh

MK Ayman Odeh (Photo: Al Ittihad)

A statement issued by the Joint List indicated that “[p]olice are investigating the threats in conjunction with Knesset member Odeh, and are trying to determine whether they were made directly against him.” In a separate personal statement Odeh issued, he said that “there are those who want us to either behave like domesticated animals or [to place us in] a nature reserve, separated from our surroundings… We will continue our struggle, using our unique position here to stand alongside the legitimate right of the Palestinian people to resist the occupation, and to achieve our rights here in our homeland, which is the only one we have.”

The reported threat on Odeh’s life came only days after three other MKs from the Joint List were temporarily suspended from the Knesset after visiting the families of Palestinians who were killed while carrying out attacks on Israelis, but whose bodies are still being held by authorities. Their suspension was invoked after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu filed complaints against the three with the Knesset Ethics Committee. Their suspension was met with rage on the left, and exacerbated longstanding frustrations of members of the Joint List who say they continually face insidious harassment by the extreme-right government. A draft of a bill was submitted earlier this week which, if approved, could see the long-term suspension of MKs if voted for by three-quarters of the Knesset, a move that the Joint List fears will lead to the further stifling of their parliamentary faction.