Hundreds of Jewish and Arab citizens protested outside the Israeli Knesset on Monday as the parliamentary committee responsible for internal affairs voted to remove Ayman Odeh, leader of the Arab Joint List, from his Knesset seat.
The decision followed Odeh’s calls to halt the aggressive war on Gaza, remarks the committee deemed as endorsing Palestinian terrorism against Israel.
It also came after a tense and lengthy session that nearly erupted into a physical altercation between Knesset member Ofer Cassif, a close ally of Odeh within the Arab Joint List, and extremist Likud lawmaker Nesim Fatouri.
The committee chairman, Ofir Katz, was forced to suspend the meeting temporarily before it resumed.
The motion received support not only from coalition lawmakers but also from members of three opposition parties: Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid, Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu representing Russian Jews, and Benny Gantz’s National Unity Party. The vote ended with 14 out of 25 committee members backing Odeh’s removal.
The only Jewish party to abstain was the Democratic Party, led by Yair Golan, who attended the session and criticized the supporters of the move. Addressing the committee, Golan said: “Ayman Odeh has announced he will not run for the next Knesset, so your goal is not to purify the parliament but to create a media storm to please the far-right.”
Under Knesset procedures, the next step is for the parliamentary committee’s decision to be presented to the full Knesset for a vote.
To pass, the motion requires the support of at least 90 lawmakers, regardless of how many members are present during the vote. If approved, the decision will take effect, though Odeh can still appeal to the Supreme Court to challenge the Knesset’s ruling.
The move to oust Odeh dates back five months, after he wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) account following the first stage of a prisoner exchange: “I am glad for the release of the captives. Now we must free both peoples from occupation. Because we were all born free.”
In response, lawmaker Avichai Boaron gathered signatures from 70 Knesset members calling for Odeh’s removal, accusing him of equating “terrorists with the Jewish victims of the October 7 massacre.”
Odeh was recently sanctioned by the Knesset’s Ethics and Conduct Committee with a two-week suspension from plenary sessions after accusing Israel of committing massacres and starving the Gaza Strip.
During his suspension, Odeh’s salary was cut by half. A similar penalty was imposed on fellow Joint List member Aida Touma-Sliman, who was suspended for three days over similar remarks criticizing Israeli military operations in Gaza.
