Ministerial committee backs MK Gotliv’s bill to enhance parliamentary immunity

The Ministerial Committee on Legislation supports a bill sponsored by firebrand Likud MK Tally Gotliv that strengthens MKs’ parliamentary immunity.

The bill would prohibit the opening of an investigation into or the hearing of a civil suit against a lawmaker, unless the Knesset determines, by a majority of 90 in the plenum, that the activity the legislator is accused of undertaking was not done in performance of his or her duties.

It would not apply to cases of fraud and breach of trust.

In the bill’s explanatory notes, Gotliv argues that Israeli courts “do not have the tools to intervene, assess or determine the framework for the fulfillment of the MK’s duties, or what is done for the fulfillment of these duties.”

Speaking with The Times of Israel, Amir Fuchs, a senior researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute, explains that over the years, Israeli courts have narrowed the immunity granted to lawmakers for activities performed as part of their official duties and that in trying to push back against this trend, Gotliv was essentially turning the Knesset into a “city of refuge.”

Many police investigations require secrecy in their initial stages and, if passed, the bill would effectively bar police from investigating crimes ranging from sexual offenses to theft and terrorism without gaining the approval of a supermajority of lawmakers.

The bill would also apply to civil suits. Activist Shikma Bressler is currently suing Gotliv for NIS 2.6 million ($715,000) in a defamation suit over unfounded claims that connected the protest leader with the Hamas terror group and its deadly October 7 onslaught.

On the opening day of her defamation trial this September, Gotliv repeatedly interrupted the judge, telling him he had no jurisdiction over her as a lawmaker.