The Knesset Plenum voted down on Monday, July 21, the appeal by Hadash MK Ofer Cassif against the Ethics Committee’s decision from July 9. In its decision, the Ethics Committee determined that MK Cassif had violated the Rules of Ethics for Members of Knesset and imposed upon him the sanction of removal from the sittings of the Knesset Plenum and meetings of the Knesset committees for a period of two months, to begin at the start of the next Knesset session next October.

Hadash MK Ofer Cassif during the debate at the plenum (Photo: Knesset)

In the vote, ten Members of Knesset from the Hadash-Ta’al and Ra’am factions supported acceptance of the appeal, versus 85 from the Zionists parties, who opposed it. Consequently, the appeal was rejected, and the Ethics Committee’s decision remained in place.

MK Cassif said during the plenum: “The days have ended in which real debates could be conducted here. The removal requests and systematic suspensions of the members of my parliamentary group are part of the atmosphere of persecution. I have been removed from sittings more than any other MK in this House. I am proud of having raised our outcry against bloodshed of all kinds. There are many good people who share our outcry, both Jews and Arabs.”

On Sunday, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) vehemently condemns the attack on MK Ayman Odeh, head of the parliamentary group of the Hadash Front, of which the Communist Party of Israel is a member, by a group of fascists shouting “Death to the Arabs” in Ness Ziona on Saturday, July 19. Similarly, fascists attacked Ofer Cassif, a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Israel and a Knesset member for Hadash. The KKE expresses its solidarity with the Hadash Front, the Communist Party, the communists of Israel and other militants who, under conditions of harsh repression, are fighting alongside the Palestinian people for their right to their own homeland.

Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=32855