Deputy Speaker tries to ban Arab MK from next Knesset

Deputy Knesset Speaker Danny Danon is seeking to bar an Arab MK from running in the next elections because of her alleged support of terrorism.

Danon (Likud) appealed to the chairwoman of the Knesset’s Central Elections Committee, Supreme Court Justice Miriam Naor, to prevent Balad party lawmaker Hanin Zoabi from running in the next Knesset elections, which are expected to be held on September 4. So far, Naor has not responded to the request, Danon’s spokesperson told The Times of Israel.

“Zoabi has used her diplomatic immunity to support terrorist[s] who engage in terrorism against IDF soldiers. There is no place for such an MK in the Knesset — only in jail,” Danon wrote Sunday on his Facebook page. In the post, Danon slammed Zoabi for her participation in a Gaza-bound flotilla that in 2010 tried to break Israel’s blockade of the Strip and ended in a bloody IDF raid that left nine Turkish activists dead.

Branding Zoabi a “terrorist under the guise of an MK,” Danon said she called for a “violent struggle” and “continued terrorism against Israeli Jews.”

Zoabi could not immediately be reached for comment.

The 42-year-old Nazareth native has been under continuous fire from right-wing MKs for her controversial views, which are highly critical of the state. Earlier this year, the Knesset’s Ethics Committee suspended her for one day after Danon complained that she pushed an usher trying to remove her from the plenum, after she had interrupted a speech by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Tasked with carrying out the elections for the upcoming Knesset, the Central Elections Committee is chaired by a Supreme Court justice and consists of MKs from different parties.

The committee is formed anew ahead of every election and the incumbent chairwoman might not necessarily sit in the committee that will oversee the upcoming elections. Any decision to bar a party or a particular politician from running can be overturned by the courts, which has happened in the past.

Asked why he lodged the appeal just days ahead of a likely dissolution of the Knesset, Danino told The Times of Israel that Justice Naor intends to run for the chairmanship of the elections committee again, providing continuity for any possible action against an MK.