Likud MK doubles down on refusal to come in for police questioning, claiming immunity

Doubling down on her previous rebuff of the Israel Police, Likud MK Tally Gotliv announces that she will refuse to appear for questioning after outing the spouse of a prominent anti-government organizer as a Shin Bet agent last year.

An investigator with Israel Police’s Lahav 433 serious crimes unit summoned the MK for questioning regarding the incident, which security officials say was liable to harm national security by revealing the personal details of security service employees.

“A Lahav investigator politely summoned me for questioning on January 13, and even allowed me to change the date if it was inconvenient for me. I advised her to stop contacting me, since I did not intend to appear,” tweets Gotliv.

Gotliv justifies her continued refusal by citing the parliamentary immunity granted to her as an MK. However, the Attorney General’s Office disputes this as erroneous.

“The immunity law does not grant an MK immunity from appearing for criminal questioning,” wrote Deputy State Attorney Alon Altman in a letter he sent to the legislator earlier this week. “Law enforcement agencies have the authority to summon an MK for questioning, in which the question of whether their actions are protected by the substantive immunity granted to an MK will become clear.”