Likud MKs invoke ‘hanging,’ ‘firing squad’ in hearing on impeaching Arab lawmaker

MK Ayman Odeh, the chairman of the Arab-majority Hadash-Ta’al party, accused coalition lawmakers of “fascism” and “wild incitement” on Tuesday during a hearing to determine if he will be impeached over a statement he made appearing to equate Israeli hostages with Palestinian security prisoners.

The Arab lawmaker drew outrage from lawmakers across the political spectrum on January 19 when he said that he was “happy for the release of the hostages and prisoners” under a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Odeh later defended his statement, characterizing the released Palestinian prisoners as minors and insisting that “most of the prisoners released that day were not charged with anything at all.”

While none of those released were charged with murder, several were behind failed terror attacks, including 15-year-old Mahmoud Aliowat, who was convicted of carrying out a shooting in the City of David area of Jerusalem, wounding two people, when he was 13.

In response, Likud MK Avichai Boaron earlier this month began collecting legislators’ signatures in an effort to kickstart the impeachment process, arguing that “whoever sticks a knife in the back of IDF soldiers and the State of Israel will not be a member of Knesset.”

According to Basic Law: The Knesset, 90 Knesset members may vote to expel a colleague who expressed support “for an armed struggle” against the State of Israel. Once 70 signatures are collected, the matter is referred to the House Committee — where Tuesday’s hearing took place — and, if approved there, goes to the plenum for a vote.

A security threat

Opening Tuesday’s debate, committee chairman and coalition whip Ofir Katz implied that Odeh’s removal is necessary because he constitutes a security threat.

“Why specifically now?” he asked rhetorically. “While the soldiers are fighting on seven fronts, the eighth front needs to be cleared, and Ayman Odeh is our eighth front… He is continuously working to weaken the State of Israel, to discredit it, to undermine it and to strengthen its enemies.”

“Since he entered politics, he has done nothing for the Arabs of Israel; he is only for Gaza and against the State of Israel. If he had behaved like this in countries like Syria, they would have hanged him in the city square,” Katz added.

This prompted a shouting match with Odeh, during which Katz yelled that he was an “arch-terrorist.”

In response, Odeh countered that Katz’s rhetoric constituted “incitement to murder.”

‘Despicable and obscene’

A lawmaker who “compares the Nukhba terrorists who murdered, raped and beheaded our hostages with our hostages” and makes statements that “encourage the enemy in a time of war is not worthy of sitting in the Knesset,” Boaron declared.

“Odeh’s words are beyond despicable and obscene,” he told the committee, reading out a list of statements made by Odeh, who has courted controversy by stating, among other things, that “Gaza has won, and Gaza will win.”

Though many who were present during the hearing were harshly critical of Odeh, one coalition MK told The Times of Israel that only his tweet about security prisoners was actually listed in the formal complaint — a move that he said significantly weakened the case against the Arab lawmaker.

No retraction

Pushing back, Odeh declared that he would not retract any of his previous statements and insisted that “Israel has committed crimes against humanity.”

Calling the impeachment process “illegal, immoral, and undemocratic,” Odeh contended that the “fascist right” was seeking to restrict Arab speech and that those who justified the death toll in Gaza have “no license to judge me.”

“I’m proud of my positions. I do not recant, I do not apologize, and I will continue to fight, together with my partners, until we build a different future here – a better future for all of us,” he said — insisting that the process was part of a campaign of “political persecution” orchestrated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party.

“History will vindicate me and will judge you,” Odeh added in Hebrew, after initially attempting to address the committee in Arabic, drawing loud jeers and accusations that he was a “terrorist.”

There is no legal bar to addressing the Knesset in Arabic, which Arab lawmakers sometimes do in order to send messages to their constituents.

“We will not surrender to fascism,” Odeh said.

During the hearing, attorney Hassan Jabareen, representing Odeh, argued that “this procedural process is illegal and must be rejected outright,” while attorney Hassan Rafiq asserted that his statements did “not indicate support for an armed struggle.”

“MK Odeh’s [statement], which is currently at the heart of the discussion and concerns the exchange deal, is completely legal – and there is no political or legal problem with it,” Jabareen said.

Fellow Hadash-Ta’al MK Ahmad Tibi likewise defended Odeh as the victim of a “blood libel” carried out in an “election atmosphere,” while United Arab List (Ra’am) MK Waleed Taha lashed out at Odeh’s critics, saying that the only MKs convicted of supporting terror are those on the right.

In response, Likud MK Osher Shekalim told the Arab MKs that “in another country, they would put you in front of a firing squad.”

In the opposition’s hands

Speaking with The Times of Israel outside the hearing, MK Ofer Cassif, Hadash-Ta’al’s only Jewish lawmaker, argued that both the coalition and “a great part of the so-called opposition” were engaged in an effort “to silence us and to prevent us from raising our voice.”

“We’ve been elected based on our values in accordance with our voters, not theirs. That is exactly what they want to silence and expel from the Knesset. We won’t let them,” he said.

A similar effort to impeach Cassif failed in the Knesset plenum last February.

Asked if he believed that members of the centrist National Unity and Yesh Atid parties would support the current impeachment push, Cassif replied that he was unsure but that he hoped not, as they would “be next.”

In a statement following the hearing, Odeh’s Hadash faction criticized members of National Unity and Yesh Atid for cooperating with the impeachment effort, pledging to “not fold or surrender.”

Lawmakers from both parties who spoke with The Times of Israel indicated that there had yet been no decisions on how their MKs would vote, although during the hearing itself, Yesh Atid MK Simon Davidson noted that he was one of the signatories of Boaron’s petition.

“MK Odeh asked me to withdraw my signature. I told him that if he went to the plenum and retracted his words, I would withdraw my signature and this debate would not take place,” he said.

Tuesday’s impeachment hearing came only a day after the Knesset Ethics Committee announced it was suspending Odeh for two weeks without pay starting on July 7 over a March 2024 incident in which the lawmaker was forcibly removed from the Knesset rostrum after accusing Israeli forces in Gaza of engaging in “murder” and carrying out a “massacre.”

Even if Odeh is impeached, it would not significantly shorten his political career, as he had already announced in 2023 that he does not intend to stand for reelection.

The House Committee is scheduled to reconvene and vote on Odeh’s impeachment next Monday.