Arab MK defends celebrating release of ‘hostages and prisoners’ after backlash
Hadash-Ta’al chair Ayman Odeh says he has ‘different perspective’ to most due to being ‘a Palestinian citizen of Israel,’ but regrets hostage families were hurt by comments
Hadash-Ta’al party chairman Ayman Odeh defended himself on Tuesday against a wave of backlash from lawmakers across the political spectrum that erupted after he said he was “happy for the release of the hostages and prisoners” as part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
The longtime leader of the country’s main Arab political bloc made the comments on X, as three Israeli women who were kidnapped during Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre were released from the Gaza Strip after more than 15 months of captivity. Hours later, and in accordance with the terms of the deal, 90 Palestinian security prisoners were released by Israel to the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The first phase of the three-phase hostage-ceasefire deal provides for a total of 33 captives to be released over 42 days in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including many serving life sentences for deadly terror attacks and murders.
“Now we must free both peoples from the yoke of occupation,” Odeh wrote at the time. “We were all born free.”
Odeh, who hails from the far-left Hadash faction, returned to X on Tuesday to explain his remarks and point of view, which he said was shaped by his relatively unique position as a member of Israel’s Arab minority.
“I understand that many people were hurt by my remarks,” he began. “I realized that unfortunately the families of the hostages, most of whom I am in close contact with and have supported throughout their struggle, were also hurt, and that truly saddens me.
“My perspective as a Palestinian citizen of Israel probably differs from the perspective of many Jewish citizens of Israel. While it is clear that many of you tend to see primarily the Jewish suffering, I see and feel the suffering of both peoples,” Odeh continued. “This is simply the reality, not just mine, but of all Arabs living in this country.”
He stressed that he, too, was moved “as the abducted women, innocent of any crime, returned to their mothers’ arms,” but was equally as moved by the release of the 90 Palestinian prisoners later on Sunday evening.
Characterizing them as “minors, teenagers” Odeh asserted that “most of the prisoners released that day were not charged with anything at all,” as many were held in administrative detention — a controversial tool enabling indefinite detention without charge that Israel uses against terror suspects, almost exclusively Palestinian, in cases where disclosing the evidence against them in court could harm national security.
While the Israel Prison Service did not provide a breakdown of the demographics of the released prisoners, contradictory media reports said Israel had released between 62 and 69 women — including one minor — and between 13 and 28 men, and eight teenagers.
While none of those released were charged with murder, several were behind non-deadly terror attacks, including 15-year-old Mahmoud Aliowat, who was the youngest prisoner freed Monday. Aliowat was convicted of carrying out a shooting in the City of David area of Jerusalem, wounding two people, when he was 13.
The list also included 62-year-old Khalida Jarrar, a leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terror group, which has been carrying out attacks on Israel for decades, including past plane hijackings.
Jarrar was accused of masterminding a 2019 bombing that killed 17-year-old Rina Shnerb at a spring in the West Bank. She was sentenced to two years in prison in 2021 as part of a plea deal, and was again arrested in late 2023 and held in administrative detention until her release.
The adult men released Sunday were all being held for relatively minor offenses like incitement, identifying with terrorism and disorderly conduct, according to Ynet.
“Although my words may be difficult for you, I am a citizen of Israel who also sees and feels the suffering of the Palestinian people, the suffering of my people who live under occupation,” Odeh said, clarifying that this didn’t prevent him from “feeling the pain” of Jewish Israelis, “even if, as things currently stand, the occupation is being carried out in their name.”
Quoting Leo Tolstoy, Odeh added: “If you feel pain, you’re alive. If you feel other people’s pain, you’re a human being.”
“I am a person who feels your pain, and I also live and feel the pain of my people,” the Hadash-Ta’al chair concluded. “Do not succumb to the wave of incitement and distortion.”
In the wake of his initial remarks on Sunday, Odeh faced calls from right-wing and centrist parties for his removal from the Knesset, and far-right Otzma Yehudit MK Yitzhak Wasserlauf said he would gather signatures to oust him.
Odeh is no stranger to verbal altercations with his fellow Knesset members.
Last month, MKs from Otzma Yehudit petitioned for Odeh to be disciplined after he appeared to justify some of Hamas’s actions on October 7, 2023, when thousands of terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages, mostly civilians.
“Kidnapping a one-year-old baby, an 88-year-old woman, murdering people who are dancing — this is primarily a very, very, very deep moral violation. At the same time, I believe that every struggling people has the right to fight the occupier, I believe that,” the Arab MK had said during a Knesset discussion in December.
In July, Odeh was removed from the Knesset plenum after he called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “the biggest terrorist here” when the premier was addressing the Knesset.
The lawmaker announced in May 2023 that he was not planning to run for office in the next elections.
As head of Hadash, an Arab party with communist ties, Odeh led the Joint List of his faction and three other Arab parties from its inception in 2015 until its dissolution in 2022, taking Arab politics to near-unprecedented levels of Knesset representation.
However, he has struggled to transform gains at the ballot box into political influence, with Arab parties often shunned by mainstream Jewish Israeli politicians, and the Arab MKs themselves often rejecting cooperation with both coalition and opposition.
