Right-wing demonstrators on Saturday assaulted a car transporting Arab lawmaker Ayman Odeh to an anti-war protest in Ness Ziona, days after the Knesset failed to approve a motion to expel him from the legislature over controversial comments he made on the conflict with Hamas in Gaza.
Demonstrators could be heard repeatedly cursing Odeh and chanting “death to Arabs” in a video filmed from inside the vehicle.
Police arrested three Ness Ziona residents on suspicion of damaging Odeh’s vehicle, including cracking the windshield, describing the attack as “rare and severe.”
A police statement added that the force was examining further evidence to identify and arrest additional suspects.
Speaking with the Haaretz daily, Odeh described how “a few dozen surrounded the car, banged on the car and broke the glass.”
“I’m 1752949833 a little bit further off and am waiting for instructions, but as far as I’m concerned, I intend to speak [at the rally] if the organizers want. I will not let the fascists win,” he said.
קללות, ניפוץ שמשה וקריאות “מוות לערבים”: חבר הכנסת איימן עודה הותקף עת שהיה ברכבו, בדרך להפגנה בנס ציונה | תיעוד@yaara_shapira pic.twitter.com/em5Z2ELOc3
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) July 19, 2025
According to the newspaper, police had promised organizers of the anti-war protest that reinforcements would be deployed after the organizers warned of potential violence.
“The police were not properly prepared and the violence is running rampant,” one of the organizers was quoted as saying. “There are not enough forces to bring the rioters under control.”
פעילי ימין חסמו ירקו ותקפו את הרכב של איימן עודה שהגיע לנאום במחאת נס ציונה היום. לפי עדויות גם נזרק חפץ. המשטרה קיבלה אזהרות מקדימות ממארגני ההפגנה במקום לאחר שקריאות למחות נגד הנאום הופצו בימים האחרונים גם על ידי משפחות שכולות מהאזור. הם הבטיחו לתגבר כוחות אך האלימות לא נמנעה. pic.twitter.com/zziOeIIexn
— Bar Peleg (@bar_peleg) July 19, 2025
The right-wing protesters also surrounded and yelled at Hadash-Ta’al MK Ofir Cassif, who later accused the government of supporting political violence.
“Just so it’s clear: There is legitimacy and even encouragement from the government to violence and murder of its opponents,” he tweeted.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, The Democrats chairman Yair Golan and Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz all denounced the violence toward Odeh, with the latter calling on coalition members also to condemn “this dangerous incident.”
“I condemn the violence against MK Odeh and call on the police to find those responsible and bring them to justice. There is no place for political violence in a democratic state,” Lapid wrote on X.
Golan asserted that the incident was the “direct result of prolonged political incitement,” citing the failed effort to boot Odeh from parliament.
“Those who vote in the Knesset in favor of ousting an Arab public official because of his opinions cannot be shocked when rioters attack him in the street,” Golan said, calling the incident “an attack against the entire Arab minority in Israel.”
The incident came after the Knesset on Monday failed to pass a motion to expel Odeh from the legislature, with only 73 out of the required 90 lawmakers voting in favor. Fifteen MKs voted against the motion, while multiple opposition parliamentarians boycotted the vote.
MK Ayman Odeh in the Knesset ahead of a failed vote on his proposed expulsion, July 14, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
The petition was put forth in January, after Odeh said he was “happy for the release of hostages and prisoners,” referring to a deal with Hamas that saw some of those abducted by terrorists on October 7, 2023, freed from Gaza in exchange for Palestinian inmates held in Israeli prisons, many of whom were convicted on terror charges.
The petition clinched the number of signatures required to bring it to a vote after Odeh said during an anti-war protest in Haifa in May that “Gaza has won and Gaza will win.”
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