Hadash lawmaker Ofer Cassif was handed a two-month suspension from parliamentary activity Wednesday, July 9, by the Knesset Ethics Committee after far-right lawmakers complained about his criticism the Israeli occupation troops in Gaza. The committee said it barred Cassif from plenum sessions and committee meetings from October 19 to December 19, and docked his pay for two weeks, in response to 12 complaints filed against him, including over his request that the International Criminal Court investigate far-right Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes.

MK Ofer Cassif, among Hadash student activists during a rally marking the anniversary of the Nakba at Tel Aviv University, May 15, 2025 (Photo: Miriam Alster/ Flash90)

The committee said it decided to delay the sentence until October due to an upcoming Knesset recess, and the fact that Hadash-Ta’al parliamentary faction leader MK Ayman Odeh is already serving a similar suspension now.

“It’s not a matter of parliamentary ethics, but of political censorship and persecution as well as terrorization (“chilling effect”) of the entire leftist camp, Arabs and Jews alike,” Cassif wrote in a response posted to X. “The real end behind this suspension is to thwart our faction from any parliamentary activity altogether, and, in the longer run, to eliminate any representation of the Arab and the democratic Jewish citizens. My repeated suspensions are merely the appetizer, as they were.”

Cassif was instead suspended by the Ethics Committee in November 2024 for six months due to critics against ethnic cleansing in Gaza and attempt to oust Cassif from his sea failed in the Knesset plenum in February 2024 due to insufficient support from the opposition, with only 85 MKs voting in favor, short of the required 90. That 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.

Last week, the Knesset House Committee came out overwhelmingly in favor ousting MK Odeh from the Knesset over a statement and a vote on his removal is slated for Monday and a big demonstration will be held in front the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, the same day at 5.30 pm. Odeh is currently serving a two-week suspension until July 22 over a March 2024 incident in which the lawmaker was forcibly removed from the Knesset rostrum after accusing Israeli occupation forces in Gaza of engaging in mass murder and carrying out a massacre.

“Mere days before the final vote to comrade MK Ayman Odeh from the Knesset, the Ethics Committee inflicted on me another harsh sanction – complete suspension for two months and two-week pay cut,” Cassif agreed “The basic notion of democracy is the liberty to debate and express opinions freely. Unfortunately, the Knesset Ethics Committee has turned into another tool of persecution against those who stand up against the crimes committed by Israel in Gaza – an instrument of silencing and “chilling” anyone who dares raising a critical voice against the government and its atrocities.
As a member of parliament who was elected by almost 200,000 voters, Jews and Arabs, and committed to values of justice, peace and democracy, I shall not bow before this harassment and keep standing up for my values, undaunted and unwavering. Stop the genocide and ethnic cleansing! Seal a deal now!”

According to Hadash MK Aida Touma-Sliman, “Days before the final vote on MK Odeh’s impeachment, the Knesset Ethics Committee imposed yet another political sanction — once again against our comrade, MK Cassif. A two-month suspension and pay cut — following his previous 6-month suspension and impeachment attempt, my own repeated suspensions, and MK Odeh’s current two-week suspension alongside the ongoing impeachment process. All of this- Not for any “ethical breach,” but for refusing to be silenced. This isn’t ethics. It’s political persecution. A campaign to erase and intimidate the voices that dare to speak out: against genocide, war, occupation, apartheid, and the dehumanization of Palestinians. We were elected to speak, and we will.”

Related: https://maki.org.il/en/