The actions of a Knesset member facing expulsion for supporting South Africa’s accusations of Israeli genocide in Gaza appear to fall short of “crossing the criminal threshold” necessary for his removal, the parliament’s legal adviser said Monday.
Sagit Afik submitted her position to lawmakers as the Knesset House Committee debated impeaching far-left lawmaker Ofer Cassif of Hadash-Ta’al.
Cassif, the only Jewish member of the Arab-majority Hadash-Ta’al party, signed a petition of support earlier this month for South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice and has publicly accused Israeli leaders of advocating for crimes against humanity against the Palestinians.
In response to Cassif’s “treasonous” actions, Yisrael Beytenu MK Oded Forer set out to invoke a previously unused legal mechanism contained in the 2016 Suspension Law, under which legislators may expel colleagues from their ranks if they are found to have committed one of a number of infractions, including expressing support “for an armed struggle” against Israel or inciting racism.
The move has so far received the support of 85 lawmakers and will need votes by 90 to pass, though it can then be challenged at court.
The move to expel Cassif is “quite unprecedented,” Afik stated, noting that the only other time it was used, against Balad MK Basel Ghattas — for smuggling cellphones to terror convicts in prison — it came after he had been charged by police.
“You must differentiate between disgust, revulsion and your rejection of the MK’s actions and statements, and compliance with the conditions established by the Basic Law legislation,” she declared to MKs, arguing that a “critical mass” of evidence was necessary to establish Cassif’s guilt.
At the opening of the session, the first of two convened to determine whether to advance the impeachment process, panel chairman Ofir Katz (Likud) declared, “Hopefully the hearing will mark the end of “support for terror… in the name of freedom of speech.
“It is a great privilege to oust the most despicable person the Israeli Knesset has ever known,” Katz asserted.
The hearing was welcomed by both Energy Minister Eli Cohen and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, with the latter tweeting that “we all hope that the High Court will respect the Knesset’s decision” if it decides to expel Cassif.
Bringing the case against Cassif on Monday, Forer alleged that his support of the South African motion constituted express support for Hamas’s attacks on Israel because if it had been accepted by the ICJ, it would have required Israel to stop fighting in Gaza, which would have “dramatically harmed Israel’s security.”
“It’s a real action. It’s not a Facebook post,” Forer told his fellow lawmakers, declaring that Cassif had “time after time crossed the red line” in his support for Palestinian causes.
Encouragement of Hamas is tantamount to direct support and “there is no doubt” that his actions encouraged the terror group, Forer claimed.
In response, Cassif’s attorney, Michael Sfard, countered that his client’s signature on a petition in favor of the South African case was rhetoric and “not action,” noting that his client had played no part in the court’s proceedings against Israel.
“It’s just a statement. Is that enough to annul the will of the voters?” he asked, calling it “manipulative” to frame opposition to the war as support for Hamas, particularly given that Cassif had previously condemned Hamas’s October 7 terror attacks on Israel
“Yes, he said difficult things, upsetting things that disturbed you,” but “the question is, is he supporting the armed struggle of Hamas? There is just one question and nothing else,” Sfard declared.
Cassif rejected the allegations against him, telling his colleagues that he was fighting for his values, which include advancing freedom and security for all.
“I never supported Hamas and certainly not its armed struggle against Israel,” he argued, leading to angry recriminations from coalition MKs — whom he in turn accused of seeking to silence criticism and to impose “right-wing Kahanist rule.”
“I believe only a ceasefire will bring the hostages home and prevent more death for Israelis and Palestinians. That’s why I went to protests for a ceasefire,” he said.
“Only in an Orwellian world in which war is peace is it possible to say that a signature in support of the end of the war is support for terror,” he added. “There is not one atom of truth” to such claims, he added.
Sfard and Cassif’s arguments were repeatedly interrupted by coalition lawmakers who stopped the debate to hurl insults at the opposition lawmaker and his supporters.
“You are enemies of Israel, you support our enemies and we will never allow this to become normal,” Likud MK Hanoch Milwidsky shouted, leading Ofir Katz to temporarily boot him from the meeting.
Meanwhile, MK Limor Son Har Melech (Otzma Yehudit) engaged in a shouting match with Hadash-Ta’al chairman Ahmad Tibi.
“Terror supporters don’t need to sit here,” Har Melech screamed.
“So leave,” Tibi retorted. Har Melech has voiced support for a Jewish terrorist convicted of killing three members of a Palestinian family in a 2015 arson attack, denying his guilt and calling his imprisonment a “crime.”
“This is a political tribunal” that “endangers the Knesset and its standing,” Tibi told The Times of Israel following the meeting. “During a period of war, if the majority demanded that the sun rise in the west, it would pass.”
Walking out of the hearing, Labor MK Gilad Kariv, who is not a member of the committee, declared that he didn’t need any of the details of the case to be against the impeachment, even though what Cassif did was “bizarre and unbecoming.”
Kariv argued that if he had indeed supported terror, then he had violated the law and should be indicted for it. “He wasn’t investigated criminally, so how can you impeach him?” he asked.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.