Israel suspends left-wing politician for his stance on Gaza

The fate of a pro-Palestine politician from Israel’s Hadash party hangs in the balance as the conflict in Gaza causes conflict in the parliament of Israel, The New Arab reported on July 10th.

Ofer Cassif is an Israeli Knesset member, part of the left-wing Hadash party, and more interestingly, the only Jewish individual on the Hadash-Ta’al list. Cassif has spoken out against Israel’s conduct in Gaza consistently, and in this case to his detriment.

The Knesset’s Ethics Committee, on July 9th, suspended Cassif from parliamentary proceedings. The move comes after the 14 complaints filed against Cassif surrounding his public statements and social media posts critiquing Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in Gaza.

Among his offences was his disapproval of the alleged torture and incarceration of Palestinians, who, according to Cassif, had “done nothing wrong.” Cassif also called for the International Criminal Court chief prosecutor to indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes.

A final vote for the politician’s fate is set to be conducted on July 14th, which would only take 90 Knesset votes to force Cassif out for good.

The lawmaker said on X: “As a member of parliament who was elected by almost 200,000 voters, Jews and Arabs, and committed to values of justice, peace, and democracy, I shall not bow before this harassment and keep standing up for my values, undaunted and unwavering.”

Along with Cassif stands another Hadash representative in front of the firing line, the leader of the party, Ayman Odeh, who was also removed from the Knesset by the House Committee. His fate is down to the same vote as Cassif’s.

Israel’s parliament has had its fair share of divides recently. According to Maghrebi on June 12th and Al-Monitor on June 11th, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government only narrowly survived an opposition-led vote to dissolve parliament. Only eight votes stopped the parliament from being dissolved.

Cassif calls what is happening to him “political censorship and persecution,” suspecting the political right is attempting to silence the broader leftist and Arab opposition in Israeli politics.

The New Arab, Maghrebi via Al-Monitor