‘A chilling message’ to Arab Israelis: Democratic senators blast effort to expel Arab MK

Three Democratic senators in the US blast the effort to oust Hadash-Ta’al chair Ayman Odeh from the Knesset in a relatively rare statement weighing in on an internal Israeli affair.

“All over the world, democracy is under assault. If Israel is going to call itself a democracy, it must tolerate peaceful dissent,” says a joint statement issued by Sens. Bernie Sanders, Peter Welch and Chris Van Hollen ahead of today’s vote to remove Odeh from the Knesset.

Right-wing and centrist MKs have gotten behind an effort to kick out Odeh for a social media post he published earlier this year in which he hailed the release of “hostages and prisoners” freed in the previous Gaza ceasefire deal. Most of the Palestinian prisoners released were held on administrative detention and hadn’t been charged but critics said the comment amounted to support for terrorism.

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.

While some opposition lawmakers have backed the coalition-led effort to oust Odeh, it appears to be losing steam, and it is not clear that there are the 90 votes needed, in the 120-member Knesset, to remove the head of the majority-Arab party.

“For over a decade, MK Odeh has been a leading advocate for peace, justice, and Jewish-Arab partnership. The current expulsion effort is a direct response to MK Odeh’s outspoken and brave calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, an end to the occupation, and a political solution between Israelis and Palestinians,” Sanders, Welch and Van Hollen say in their joint statement.

“This expulsion effort sends a chilling message to millions of Palestinian citizens of Israel: that their representation is conditional and their rights revocable. Such a message has no place in any democratic society,” they adds.