Police probe former Joint List lawmaker for alleged incitement

Heba Yazbak questioned over Facebook posts from before time in Knesset, including one that indicated solidarity with Palestinian terrorist; ex-MK says probe politically motivated

Former Joint List MK Heba Yazbak was questioned Monday by police on suspicion of incitement and identification with terrorist acts.

The allegations are related to Facebook posts published by Yazbak between 2015 and 2017, before she was an MK, a police source told Hebrew media.

Yazbak has faced specific criticism over two Facebook posts: one from 2015, in praise of Lebanese terrorist Samir Kuntar, who in 1979 took part in the brutal murder of members of an Israeli family in the northern city of Nahariya; and another that welcomed the end of a nine-year sentence for Amir Makhoul, who pleaded guilty to handing over sensitive information to the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah.

Yazbak has also been criticized for statements she made that some have read as condoning violence against Israeli soldiers.

The former MK, who represented the ultranationalist Balad faction on the majority-Arab Joint List, has defended the posts, saying she was not promoting violence, but rather an end to the occupation.

Police in a statement said Yazbak’s questioning was carried out with the approval of the attorney general and with the assistance of the Northern District Attorney’s Office.

Samir Kuntar salutes as he arrives to pay his respects at the grave of Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh, south of Beirut, Lebanon, on July 17, 2008. (AP/Darko Bandic, File)

Yazbak blasted the probe as “politically motivated and illegitimate interrogation,” noting that the posts had already been adjudicated before the Supreme Court last year, when several right-wing parties sought to disqualify her from running for the Knesset. The top legal body ultimately greenlit her candidacy in a 5-4 ruling.

Israel’s election laws ban anyone who openly supports armed conflict against Israel, or incites racism, from running for Knesset.

The former MK said in a Monday statement that the decision to question her represented an abuse of power by law enforcement.

Yazbak was an MK in 2019-2020, but failed to be reelected in the March 2021 election, as she was seventh on the Joint List slate, which only won six seats.

The Balad party has come under repeated censure for statements made by some of its parliamentarians and candidates. Other Balad politicians who have faced intense criticism include former MK Basel Ghattas, who smuggled phones to terror convicts in Israeli prisons. Balad chief Sami Abou Shehadeh himself has come under fire for awarding certificates to freed Palestinian prisoners, including one alleged to have planned violent terror attacks against Israelis.