Knesset House Committee Chairman MK David Bitan (Likud) called the MKs from the Joint Arab List faction who met with the families of Palestinian terrorists from Jerusalem “cowards” for not appearing before the committee on Monday to examine possible criminal and ethical offenses they had committed. Last week MKs Hanin Zoabi, Jamal Zahalka and Basel Ghattas met with the families of a number of terrorists from Jerusalem.
“The Joint List is a radical party which takes its orders from the traitor [former MK who passed information to Hezbollah during wartime] Azmi Bishara,” Bitan said. “If an MK attends such a meeting (with the families of terrorists) and stands for a moment of silence to honor the terrorists’ memory, and all this during a wave of terror which is accompanied and fueled by incitement, then the Knesset must take action. If needed, we will amend the [MKs’] Immunity Law.”
Deputy Attorney General Raz Nizri explained that “from a public standpoint, every citizen should be against terror, but from a legal standpoint, not everything that is wrong on a public level constitutes a criminal offense. We received several complaints from MKs. Is it a criminal offense? In order to decide on this we asked the police to gather information. What was discussed during the meeting (with the families)? We need the full facts.”
MK Tzachi Hanegbi, head of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said the Knesset should pass a law that deals with such issues, “but we must not give the enforcement system advice on who should be put on trial.”
“It is infuriating to see how the Supreme Court repeatedly changes the decision of the Central Elections Committee and permits the candidacy of Hanin Zoabi,” Hanegbi added. “The punishments imposed by the Ethics Committee are pathetic, and we have already approached the leader of the opposition (MK Isaac Herzog of the Zionist Camp) in order to promote an initiative that will make it legal to dismiss an MK for behavior that is unbecoming, with a majority of 90 MKs.”