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Monday, June 30, 2025
Gantz says his party still deciding whether to vote in plenum for Odeh’s ouster
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
National Unity has not yet determined whether its lawmakers will vote to eexpel Hadash-Ta’al chairman Ayman Odeh from the Knesset when the matter is brought to the plenum, chairman Benny Gantz tells reporters.
Asked about his party’s position, Gantz expresses discomfort with the idea of Knesset members voting to expel a colleague but criticizes Odeh for his recent statement that “Gaza will win.”
“We will hold a members’ debate beforehand and decide what we are doing,” he declares.
Earlier today, lawmakers in the Knesset House Committee voted overwhelmingly to impeach Odeh over comments he made welcoming the release of Palestinian security prisoners as part of a hostage release deal with Hamas earlier this year.
Lawmakers, including representatives from the opposition Yesh Atid and National Unity parties, voted 14-2 in favor of impeachment. The matter will now be referred to the Knesset plenum, where 90 MKs will have to vote in favor to impeach Odeh.
“One of the grounds for dismissing an MK is incitement to racism, and I tell you, antisemitism is racism and anyone who shouts ‘Gaza will win’ during a war does not deserve to sit in the Israeli Knesset,” National Unity MK Pnina Tamano-Shata told the committee before voting in favor of impeachment.
Odeh should “decide whether he is a Gazan or an Israeli,” Tamano-Shata declared.
The Times of Israel Community.