Bill aims to ban MKs who support terror against Israel

The Ministerial Committee for Legislation will consider on Sunday a bill that would strip an MK’s parliamentary seat if the lawmaker expressed support for an armed campaign of an enemy state or terror group against Israel during a war or military action.

Under the proposed amendment to the Basic Law: The Knesset, terminating the MK’s tenure will require the recommendation of the Knesset House Committee and a majority vote of Knesset members, Israel Radio reported.

The bill, which is sponsored by MK David Rotem of the Yisrael Beytenu party, has 28 sponsors from a wide spectrum of parties, including Yisrael Beytenu, Likud, Jewish Home, Shas, United Torah Judaism, Hatnua and Labor.

MK Faina Kirschenbaum (Yisrael Beytenu) explained that while the law is intended to apply generally, it is also directed at MK Hanin Zoabi (Balad) who has repeatedly raised hackles with provocative statements supporting Palestinian armed campaigns against Israel.

“The law is of course general, but the intention is MK Zoabi, who during a military action called for armed struggle against Israel,” Kirschenbaum told Israel Radio. “She makes strong statements on Hamas websites. We don’t think that it is suitable that a member of Knesset, who is supposed to represent her public in the Knesset, specifically calls for action against Israel and it is about time that this MK should not be allowed to continue.”

In August, police called for Zoabi be put on trial for incitement, threats and maligning a civil servant over an incident in which she insulted two policemen. According to Ynet, Zoabi called the two Arab Israeli policemen “collaborators with the oppressors of their own people” and said that “they should be used to wipe the floor.”

In June, Zoabi said the kidnappers of three Israeli teens later found killed were “not terrorists.” Following the abduction of Naftali Fraenkel, 16, Gil-ad Shaar, 16, and Eyal Yifrach, 19, on June 12, suspicions quickly pointed toward Hamas operatives as being behind the attack. The kidnappings set in motion a chain of events that led to the summer conflict in the Gaza Strip against Hamas.

Zoabi also angered right-wing lawmakers who said articles she published during Protective Edge constituted advice to Hamas on how to defeat Israel.

The incidents prompted the Knesset Ethics Committee to banish Zoabi from Knesset meetings for six months. Zoabi has petitioned the High Court of Justice against the ban after an appeal to the Knesset plenum to nullify the exclusion was voted down.

The Ministerial Committee for Legislation, the cabinet committee that votes to give government support to a Knesset bill, will also consider a bill against violence in sport that could see violators face a maximum sentence of ten years in prison for attacks in sports venues. The measure comes after a match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv last week descended into chaos when fans brawled, invaded the pitch and forced the game to be brought to an end.