MK’s water-pouring stunt to cost taxpayers NIS 21,000
Ahmed Tibi, who damaged podium when protesting Bedouin resettlement bill, barred from serving as deputy speaker for two weeks
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
A protest by MK Ahmad Tibi, which saw the Ra’am-Ta’al politician pour water over a bill he did not like, damaged the Knesset’s audio equipment and will cost Israeli taxpayers $21,000 to replace, the Knesset Ethics Committee said Tuesday.
During the June 24 Knesset debate over a new plan to regulate settlement of Bedouin tribes in southern Israel, Arab MKs stood at the podium and, one after the other, tore up the bill while calling it a racist suggestion. At one point, Tibi poured a glass of water over the bill, prompting Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein to order him removed from the assembly.
“I’m telling you in the name of all the Arab citizens, not only those living in the Negev — you’ve gone too far, both morally and politically,” Tibi said, slamming “all the hypocrites” who were ready to vote in favor of the bill at the times.
Tibi told the committee that he was merely acting out the Arabic saying about worthless items, “Wet it and drink its water.” He argued that he wasn’t directing his behavior at a specific MK, but at the bill itself. A deputy speaker of the Knesset, Tibi claimed that since he had not been allowed to chair any plenary sessions since the incident, he had already been punished.
The Ethics Committee rejected his defense, calling the water-spilling “an act that violates in an extreme fashion the legitimate rules of conduct in the Knesset.”
The statement said that the water seeped into the podium’s loudspeakers, which along with the amplifier needs to be replaced.
As punishment, Tibi will not be permitted to run Knesset meetings for the remainder of the current session, which ends on August 4, the ethics panel said.
The committee found that the other Arab MKs who merely tore up the bill were protected by the Knesset’s freedom of expression. Still, the committee’s statement emphasized that MKs should not interpret the decision as an indication it sees the tearing of bills as legitimate parliamentary behavior, and may well consider similar acts breaches of Knesset decorum in the future.
The legislation in question, the “Bill on the Arrangement of Bedouin Settlement in the Negev,” is based on the Begin Plan, drawn up by the former Likud minister and approved by the Cabinet in January.
That plan, also called the Prawer Plan, calls for the country to officially recognize and register the vast majority of the Bedouin settlements throughout the south of Israel and to compensate those whom the state plans to move off state-owned land.
The plan has drawn harsh local and international criticism. On Monday, a Knesset post-Ramadan fast Iftar meal was canceled after being boycotted by Arab MKs angry at the plan.
A source from Tibi’s party told The Times of Israel on Sunday that MKs had taken pains to participate in the Iftar dinner when it was hosted by former speaker MK Reuven Rivlin (Likud), but that Edelstein had gone too far in his disciplinary measures and had expressed support for the plan.
MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) was also let off with no punishment by the ethics committee for ripping the coalition agreement documents at the podium in March.
Haviv Rettig Gur contributed to this report.
