The Knesset’s Ethics Committee decided Monday, November 11, to remove Hadash lawmaker Ofer Cassif, a leading member of the Communist Party of Israel, from plenary meetings and Knesset committee meetings for a period of six months. The committee also decided that his salary will be suspended for two weeks during the period of his suspension, which will take effect Tuesday.
These are severe sanctions, and one of the severe punishments imposed by the committee in recent years. The punishments come after Cassif implicitly, and sometimes explicitly, accused the Israeli army of war crimes including genocide.
MK Ofer Cassif visiting the Palestinian village of Farkha in the occupied West Bank on last Saturday, November 9, 2024 (Photo: Zo Haderech)
“My political statements against the occupation, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and genocide committed by the Israeli government in Gaza – witnessed by the entire world – are well-founded statements protected under the freedom of political expression,” Cassif says in a statement.
“My punishment is a continuation of the political persecution of opponents of the war and critics of [far-right Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s bloody rule,” Cassif said, adding that he is “proud to be a partner of the good people who are persecuted by this evil government. On the altar of surviving the rule of the arch-criminal Netanyahu, the campaign of incitement and hunting continues against anyone who utters a critical voice, including the families of the hostages.”
“I will not be silent and will continue to fight for the end of the war, the return of the hostages, the end of the occupation and the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel — for peace, equality and justice for both nations,” he added.
Early this year, an unprecedented impeachment vote against MK Cassif fails on February 19 in the Knesset plenum, with only 85 out of a required 90 lawmakers in the 120-seat body voting in favor of expelling the Communist legislator. Nearly all the Knesset coalition members from the right-wing parties – the Likud, Religious Zionist Party, and Otzma Yehudit – supported the impeachment. Far-right Yisrael Beytenu, an opposition party but a right-wing party on issues of national security, unanimously approved the motion. Members of the haredi (ultraorthodox) parties also voted in favor.
The effort to remove Cassif from the parliament came in response to his public support for South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. Cassif signed an Israeli petition backing Pretoria’s claims and accused far-right Israeli leaders of advocating for crimes against humanity against the Palestinians.
The impeachment process easily passed the first two steps of the process — submitting a letter signed by a minimum of 70 MKs and obtaining the support of at least three-quarters of the House Committee — but died in the plenum after falling just short of enough support.
Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=31616
