Motion to expel Arab party head Odeh from Knesset fails; coalition MKs heckle him

A motion to expel Hadash-Ta’al chair Ayman Odeh from the Knesset failed to pass on Monday, with only 73 out of the required 90 lawmakers voting in favor. Fifteen MKs voted against the motion, while multiple opposition parliamentarians boycotted the vote.

The petition was put forth in January, after Odeh said he was “happy for the release of hostages and prisoners,” referring to a deal with Hamas that saw some of those abducted by terrorists on October 7, 2023, freed from Gaza in exchange for Palestinian inmates held in Israeli prisons, many of whom were convicted on terror charges.

The petition clinched the required number of signatures after Odeh said during an anti-war protest in Haifa in May that “Gaza has won and Gaza will win.” The Knesset House Committee in June approved lawmakers’ statutory 70-signature petition, which included at least 10 signatures from the opposition.

The vote to expel the Arab lawmaker required a supermajority of 90 out of the Knesset’s 120 members to pass. however, both United Torah Judaism (a coalition party) and Benny Gantz’s Blue and White—National Unity party boycotted the vote, while Opposition Leader Yair Lapid and most of his Yesh Atid party’s MKs were absent as well.

The measure was supported by the rest of the coalition and by the opposition Yisrael Beytenu party. Left-wing The Democrats party, led by Yair Golan, voted against it.

In a post to X after the vote, Odeh declared, “I’m still here. The disgraceful and fascistic move against me failed. This time fascism didn’t go through, and the important thing is, we won’t let it go through. We will stand strong against it, and we will fight for democracy, for equality, and for peace.

“From here, we must free both peoples from the yoke of occupation. Because we are all born free!” the post concluded.

Hadash-Ta’al MK Aida Touma-Sliman warned that while “the attempt to impeach Ayman Odeh has failed — still the attack on our political existence continues.”

“They wanted to silence a voice that speaks out against the war, against the occupation, and for a just peace. They tried to send a message: if you refuse to fall in line with the nationalist consensus — you will be punished. But that message didn’t pass. Not today, she tweeted.

“We were elected to represent the people, to oppose crimes, to speak truth — and that’s exactly what we’ll keep doing. You can threaten, suspend, and incite — but you will not erase us. Our resistance will not be impeached.”

Odeh heckled as several MKs removed from Knesset

Amid the discussion that preceded the vote, Likud MK Nissim Vaturi and Yesh Atid MK Yaron Levi were kicked out of the Knesset plenum for interrupting Odeh as he spoke.

Also removed were Otzma Yehudit’s Almog Cohen and Likud MK Tally Gotliv.

Addressing lawmakers, Odeh said that those seeking his expulsion from parliament were “fascists and Kahanists,” referring to followers of the late extremist rabbi Meir Kahane, prompting jeers and insults in return.

“Go to Gaza,” one MK screamed, as Odeh continued to speak, after Vaturi and Levi were removed. “You represent Hamas,” another called out.

Addressing the plenum at the beginning of the debate, coalition whip Ofir Katz (Likud), who chairs the committee that impeached Odeh, said that the Knesset is for those who believe in the state of Israel and not those who support its enemies.

Katz later pointed at Odeh and told him to “go to Gaza.”

“He’s not a terror supporter, he’s a terrorist,” he yelled immediately ahead of the vote.

His rhetoric was taken up by other coalition figures, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who pointed at Odeh and other Arab MKs from the Knesset rostrum and yelled that all “terror supporters” should leave the chamber.

Multiple Arab MKs were jeered by coalition lawmakers during the expulsion debate, with lawmakers vocally objecting to speeches in Arabic.

Hitting back at proponents of expulsion, Hadash-Ta’al MK Ahmad Tibi declared that members of the coalition who engage in extreme rhetoric should be jailed, specifically calling out Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, who once suggested Israel should use nuclear arms in Gaza.

The heritage minister lashed out after the vote at lawmakers who opposed the motion, posting on X: “Alon Schuster, Naama Lazimi, Efrat Rayten, Merav Michaeli, and “Rabbi” Gilad Kariv — you spit in the face of IDF soldiers and others on a terrible evening like this, will not be forgotten by the Israeli public. Shame on you!”

Hadash-Ta’al MK rails at ‘racist hegemony’ in Knesset

Fellow Hadash-Ta’al MK Ofer Cassif, himself the subject of a failed 2024 impeachment drive, complained that the Knesset was full of Kahanists — while MK Waleed Alhwashla, of the Islamist Ra’am party, demanded the end of the “persecution” of Arab lawmakers.

Speaking to The Times of Israel during the debate, Cassif said the heckling of lawmakers for speaking Arabic on the rostrum was “part of the racist hegemony that has controlled the Knesset for the last two and a half years,” referring to the term of the current government.

“Not only is it allowed to speak Arabic, according to the Knesset rules — it is the first language of 20% of the population, including the representatives here,” he continued.

“Every time they are not allowed, or they are shouted at by some racist thugs, mainly from the coalition, it shows that racism has taken over the Knesset, like society in general,” Cassif said.

Before the vote, the hawkish Yisrael Beytenu party called on “all Zionist factions from the coalition and the opposition” to vote in favor of the expulsion.

“Do not repeat the mistake you made in voting to dismiss [complaints against] Ofer Cassif. There is no reason for Israeli citizens to continue to fund salaries of terror supporters,” the party stated, referring to a failed 2024 effort to expel a Hadash-Ta’al lawmaker who expressed public support for South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

“Yisrael Beytenu will vote in favor of his dismissal and expects all Zionist parties to do the same.”

Coming out against the motion to expel Odeh, Democrats chair Yair Golan told opposition lawmakers to vote against it, urging them to present a “united and strong front.”

“The vote to oust Odeh is not merely a technical vote,” Golan said in remarks to the press. “This is a dangerous and essential move in a coup d’état.”

He called on his “friends in the entire democratic camp” and Yesh Atid in particular, whose lawmakers have been given free rein to vote as they please, to oppose the motion rather than vote with “the government of destruction and hatred.”

In a rare statement weighing in on an internal Israeli affair, three Democratic senators in the US blasted the measure, calling it a “chilling message” to Arab Israelis.

“All over the world, democracy is under assault. If Israel is going to call itself a democracy, it must tolerate peaceful dissent,” said 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.

“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,” the joint statement continued.

“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 added.