Knesset Bans Anti-Zionist Arab Party’s Sole Jewish MK from Plenum and Committees

Photo Credit: Miriam Alster/Flash90

MK Ofer Cassif (Hadash) leads a rally in Tel Aviv University marking the Nakba anniversary and calling for an end to the ‘genocide’ in Gaza, May 15, 2024.

The Knesset Ethics Committee on Monday suspended MK Ofer Cassif (Hadash-Ta’al) for six months from debates in the Knesset plenum and Knesset committees and denied him two-weeks’ pay (that’s NIS 23,791.5, or $6,335.56) following complaints filed against him. Cassif will be allowed to vote both in committees of which he is a member as well as in the plenum but will be barred from submitting bills or even speaking at the Knesset for six months.

This is considered an extremely severe punishment, and the committee’s ruling stated that the complaints in his case continue to come in.

Twenty-five complaints were filed against Cassif, four of which were filed before October 7, and the rest after. Some complaints were dismissed due to the fact that they were published in the media at the same time as they were filed. The committee, headed by MK Moshe Roth (United Torah Judaism), wrote in its decision that in addition to the number and severity of the complaints, Cassif is yet to apologize for his statements and actions.

The committee wrote, “It is noteworthy that MK Cassif has never found it appropriate to apologize for his statements and actions. The Ethics Committee considers an apology to be a central and important element of ethics law, and the willingness of the MK to apologize is a significant consideration in the decision on sanction.

“Instead of an apology, in each of his responses, MK Cassif presented the committee with arguments aimed at convincing the members that his words or actions were not problematic at all. Even if the committee accepted his convoluted explanations, when they accumulate into a mass, they also indicate MK Cassif’s pattern of action, which seeks to touch the boiling water without being scalded.”

Last January, Cassif expressed his support for the lawsuit filed by South Africa against Israel at The Hague, claiming members of the Israeli government are calling for genocide.

Israeli politician, Ofer Cassif, says he will provide evidence in support of South Africa/Palestine at the ICJ.

Every time I’ve seen Cassif demonstrate for Palestinians he’s almost always beaten up by Israeli police (Sheikh Jarrah May ‘21). Shin Bet may go after him this time. https://t.co/wZFLosX5Cb pic.twitter.com/ji4f4WvAno

— Naks Bilal (@NaksBilal) January 7, 2024

On Tuesday morning, Channel 14 presenter Ido Tauber addressed Cassif on his morning show, saying, “Do you feel bad about our country? Are you being treated very badly? Do you have to go up resentfully to the Knesset podium every morning, to shout and get angry? What do you need all this bad stuff for? There are so many countries that speak exactly like you, why don’t you go live in one of them? The Arab countries around us will welcome you with open arms.”

“Maybe you should consider moving to a European capital, I hear Amsterdam has very nice places. You are welcome to go and speak there, people will love you there.”

Ofer Kasif the leftist Israeli politician who supports prosecuting Israel for war crimes at the ICJ was arrested after defending himself from Israeli police pic.twitter.com/DLz892pOYX

— Daniella Modos – Cutter -SEN (@DmodosCutter) March 1, 2024

MK Cassif has proclaimed himself “an explicit anti-Zionist.” In an interview with Haaretz, Cassif said: “I object to the ideology and practice of Zionism… it’s a racist ideology and practice which espouses Jewish supremacy.”

On October 8, 2023, Cassif told Al Jazeera that his party had repeatedly warned that continued Israeli occupation of the “Palestinian territories” would lead to events like the Hamas attack, in which innocent civilians on both sides would pay the price. He called the Israeli government “fascist,” and accused it of carrying out pogroms and ethnic cleansing against the “Palestinians.” He was later suspended for 45 days for these comments by the same Knesset Ethics Committee that banned him now for six months.