Arab hunting in Israel’s Knesset

MK Ayman Odeh in the Knesset, Jerusalem, 10 July 2023

The lead Haaretz editorial on 25 June 2025:

The Knesset House Committee began on Tuesday the process of expelling MK Ayman Odeh for legitimate political speech in expressing solidarity with his fellow Palestinians in Gaza, not with the Hamas terror organization and its criminal acts.

This is not a response from a democratic legislative body, but a calculated, aggressive and nationalistic attack on a representative of the Arab public, one of the few who carry the banner of peace.

Since the outbreak of the Gaza war, Jewish Knesset members have employed brutal language, their remarks being cited in indictments issued by The Hague tribunals accusing Israel of genocide.

Of course, this did not prevent any of them from signing the motion to expel Odeh for his statements, even though there was not a grain of incitement in his words.

Here is the original tweet that prompted Jewish MKs to call for Odeh’s expulsion: “Happy about the release of the hostages and prisoners. We now have to free the two nations from the yoke of occupation. We were all born free.”

Odeh opposes violence, let alone violent struggle. Anyone who has ever listened to him certainly knows this. His entire sin comes down to his dual identification as an Israeli and a Palestinian.

Of course, none of this stopped many MKs from attacking Odeh during the debate, cursing him and threatening him. MK Ofir Katz (Likud) called him a “terrorist;” MK Osher Shkalim (Likud) screamed at him, “In another country, they would put you in front of a firing squad.” But these instigators of violence are Jews, so who cares?

In this futile endeavor, which has no chance of standing the test of the High Court of Justice, these MKs are trying to cast a stain on one of the most prominent Arab representatives for peace, reconciliation and coexistence.

In the process, they aim to harm the Arab public’s right to vote and elect their own representatives, and for the possibility of Jewish MKs cooperating with their Arab peers in the Knesset.

Although it is procedurally prohibited, MK Avichay Buaron (Likud) also attached to the motion words that Odeh had spoken at a demonstration against the war a few weeks ago, which included the statement “Gaza won, Gaza will win.”

Unlike for most Jews, for Odeh and his party colleagues, Hamas and Gaza are not one and the same, but complete opposites. But in the current Knesset, a statement that also mentions the Palestinian side is tantamount to treason. To the opposition’s shame, 13 of its lawmakers also signed the original expulsion motion.

Odeh is certainly not an “eighth front” as he has been accused of. To the contrary, if there is any chance for this place, it is thanks to Odeh and the few like him who advocate equality and peace.

It is not surprising that the most racist and nationalist Knesset in the history of the country saw fit to try to silence him and impeach him. They want to put him on trial, and after him, all the Arab members of Knesset. Their attempt to expel him constitutes a serious indictment against this Knesset.

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