State Prosecutor: Calling United Arab List party lawmakers terrorists constitutes protected speech

Israeli Knesset at night

Noa Shpigel reports in Haaretz on 2 July 2024:

Israel’s State Prosecutor Office said on Monday that calling members of the Knesset’s United Arab List party terrorists constitutes protected speech.

The statement came in response to UAL lawmaker Waleed Alhwashla’s request to remove National Missions Minister Orit Strock’s immunity in order to file an indictment against her for incitement.

Strock said in May at the Knesset that there won’t be another government in Israel with UAL, which she called “a terrible predatory beast in sheep’s clothing, terrorists in a suit and tie and a sweet smile.”

According to Strock, UAL “had the government by the throat,” and that “the height of the disgrace was that the government in Israel relied on 61 fingers, some of which, not one or two, were the fingers of terrorist supporters – and today everyone knows that.”

The State Prosecutor’s Office rejected Alhwashla’s request to press charges, explaining that Strock’s statement is “protected under the freedom of expression in general, and in particular freedom of political expression – which is especially broad.”

Shimon Huja, an attorney at the Deputy State Prosecutor’s office (Special Matters), added that he believed that “the statements do not constitute the substantive basis required to open a criminal investigation.”

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