The Knesset passed into law a bill that lets it oust a sitting lawmaker – legislation that critics say targets Arab lawmakers deemed to be inciting against Israel’s interests.
According to the law, the Knesset can oust a lawmaker for incitement to racism and support of armed struggle against the state with a majority of 90 lawmakers. The newest version of the bill requires 70 of the Knesset\’s 120 members, including 10 from the opposition to launch expulsion proceedings. The original version of the bill only required 61 MKs to launch the proceedings, and not necessarily anyone from the opposition.
Members of the Joint List of Arab parties said they intend to appeal the Supreme Court against the law.
MK Nissan Slomiansky (Habayit Hayehudi) rejected claims that the law is targeting the Arab lawmakers. "You know that in actual fact, the only time this calling card has been activated was against Jews," he said, referring at the rightwing extremist Meir Kahana, who was disqualified from running for Knesset in the 1980s.
On Monday, the chairman of the Joint List of Arab parties, Ayman Odeh, harshly criticized the legislation.
“The prime minister has a clear objective, and this law is only another stage in its implementation,” he said. “Netanyahu doesn’t want Arabs to vote; he doesn’t want us to be a legitimate political force. Netanyahu wants politics for Jews only. That’s why he systematically incites against the Arab public and against its elected officials.”
The broader opposition also opposes the bill.
“This is a fundamental change in policy, and we will fight it accordingly,” MK Merav Michaeli (Zionist Union) said ahead of the vote. “The coalition is passing a law that lets certain MKs oust other publicly elected MKs. This is another law for political persecution and intimidation. It’s another Erdogan law from the House of Netanyahu,” she said, referring to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The ruling Likud party isn’t necessarily happy with the bill either. “This law is a failure. It will be impossible to implement,” a senior Likud official said. “They’ve raised the threshold of MKs so high that there’s no longer any point to it.”
Coalition Chairman David Bitan has tried to shelve the current version in exchange for a law designed simply to oust firebrand MK Haneen Zoabi (Joint List), but the opposition refused to cooperate.
Under the bill, an expulsion process would begin with a request submitted to the Knesset speaker, who would send it on to the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee.
Approval would require three-quarters of the committee members before going to the full Knesset. Any ousted MK would be able to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. Suspension proceedings could not begin during an election campaign.