The Knesset House Committee voted overwhelmingly on Monday afternoon to recommend the impeachment of MK Ayman Odeh, the leader of the Arab Hadash-Ta’al Party.
The proposal to remove Odeh from office, which came in response to his support for Arab terrorism, received broad bipartisan backing, with opposition lawmakers Simon Davidson (Yesh Atid Party), Oded Forer (Yisrael Beiteinu) and Pnina Tamano-Shata (Nation Unity) voting in favor alongside the 11 coalition representatives on the committee.
Knesset members Ahmad Tibi, a fellow member of Hadash-Ta’al, and Walid Taha (United Arab List/Ra’am Party) voted against the proposal.
MK Avichai Boaron (Likud), who gathered signatures to initiate the vote in the House Committee, accused Odeh of showing “utter disregard for the Israeli Knesset” by boycotting the discussion.
“Even during the previous session—and up until now—he has neither apologized nor retracted his statements, and even repeated them. He refuses to acknowledge that Hamas and Hezbollah are terror groups.”
The impeachment request was submitted after Odeh made a statement that appeared to draw a parallel between the Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israel.
The January remarks, which implied that Israelis and Palestinians both suffer under a “yoke of oppression,” sparked outrage among the coalition, which accused him of legitimizing Arab terrorist attacks.
Committee Chairman Ofir Katz said on Monday that Odeh had “not apologized or retracted his words, but has only intensified his comparison between [Israeli] hostages and [freed] terrorists.”
Katz added that “in any civilized country,” Odeh would be imprisoned, urging the opposition to continue to support the proposal to remove him now that it will proceed to the Knesset plenum, where a 90-lawmaker majority is needed for impeachment.
Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana announced on Wednesday that the plenary discussion on Odeh’s ouster was scheduled for July 14.
Odeh stated in a response following the Monday’s vote: “The opposition has once again collaborated with [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and Kahanism,” adding, “They hate us more than they love democracy.”
The Knesset has never before impeached a lawmaker. Odeh has the right to appeal to the Supreme Court after the final Knesset vote.
