85 members of the Knesset have signed a document calling for impeachment proceedings against Hadash MK Ofer Cassif, who signed a petition in favor of South Africa’s motion accusing Israel of genocide before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Cassif is one of more than 850 Israelis who are signing onto a petition of support for South Africa’s case

MK Ofer Cassif during a demonstration against the war in Gaza held last Saturday at Kaplan Street in Tel-Aviv, near the Ministry of Defense, January 6, 2024 (Photo: Zo Haderech)

The effort to impeach Cassif was started by far-right Israel Beytenu MK Oded Forer on Monday, who called the lawmaker’s public endorsement of South Africa’s motion against Israel “treasonous.”

Since Forer started the petition, MKs from both the coalition and opposition have signed onto it.  All the Knesset members of Shas, all the Knesset members of the Degel Hatorah faction of the United Torah Judaism Party, and MKs Yaakov Tesler and Moshe Shimon Roth from the Agudat Yisrael faction of United Torah Judaism, signed the request to impeach Cassif, together with members of the Knesset from Otzma Yehudit, the Religious Zionist Party, Likud, Yisrael Beytenu, the National Unity Party and Yesh Atid.

Earlier, MK Yisrael Eichler from United Torah Judaism announced that he is opposed in principle to the disqualification of MK Cassif, since “the haredim will be next in line,” as he put it. All MKs from Hadash-Ta’al, Ra’am and Labor factions refuse to sign the petition.

Once 70 signatures are collected on such a petition, the matter moves to the Knesset House Committee, and if the motion makes it to the Knesset floor, 90 votes are needed to expel the MK in question. The hearing of the impeachment proceedings will be held in the Knesset House Committee on January 20 and 21.

Cassif can choose to be represented by a lawyer during the committee hearing, which will also be attended by representatives of Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara and by Knesset legal adviser Sagit Afik, who will present her legal opinion on the matter.

In response to Forer’s decision to begin collecting support for impeachment proceedings against Cassif, the Hadash-Ta’al facton chair MK Ayman Odeh, released a statement calling it “the realization of the coup d’état and the elimination of democratic spaces.” While those who call for displacement and for the destruction of Gaza sit around the government table, MK Cassif, who calls for peace, is expelled from the Knesset on the unfounded charge of ‘supporting an armed struggle,'” the statement added. “The goal of the right-wing government from the day it was founded was to eliminate the voices opposing it. Under the auspices of war, this has materialized.”

In Israel, lawmakers are allowed to talk about genocide only if they support it. Two lawmakers from right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party doubled down Wednesday on calls to destroy or depopulate Gaza, prompting an admonition from the country’s attorney general on the eve the hearing in at the ICJ. In an interview with Hakol Baramah radio, Deputy Knesset Speaker Nissim Vaturi said he did not regret his November call for Israel to “stop being humane” and “burn Gaza now.” “I stand behind my words,” Vaturi said. “It is better to burn down buildings rather than have soldiers harmed. There are no innocents there.” Referring to Palestinian civilians trapped in northern Gaza, Vaturi added that he has “no mercy for those who are still there.” “We need to eliminate them,” he asserted.

Danny Danon, a former United Nations ambassador now serving in the Knesset, said in a Wednesday radio interview that Israel must “not do half a job” in Gaza. That, Danon said, means “voluntary migration” of Palestinians from Gaza—a euphemism for an ethnic cleansing campaign akin to the Nakba. In November, Danon co-authored a Wall Street Journal op-ed suggesting the ethnic cleansing of some of Gaza’s population to Western countries that would accept the refugees.

The petition (in Hebrew): https://chng.it/PJVRfR86W4

Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=31522