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MK Ayman Odeh in the Knesset on Monday [6/30/2025]. Credit: Olivier Fitoussi. Published by Haaretz

Knesset guard remove Hadash-Ta'al MK Ofer Cassif from the hearing on MK Ayman Odeh's expulsion, on Monday. Credit: Olivier Fitoussi Published by Haaretz

Knesset guard members remove Danny Elgarat, whose brother, Itzik, was killed in Gaza captivity. Credit: Olivier Fitoussi. Published by Haaretz

Demonstrators call for an end to the war in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages, outside the Israeli military headquarters, in central Tel Aviv, June 28, 2025. (Erik Marmor/Flash90). Published by 972May
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איימן עודה أيمن عودة Ayman Odeh
@AyOdeh
Today, I joined the Peace Convoy to the Gaza border, together with hundreds of Jews and Arabs, with one simple demand:

End the war. Reach a comprehensive agreement.

We are offering the only humane and moral alternative to the government’s policy of annihilation and occupation:

End the occupation. Recognize the right to self-determination for both peoples.

We will stand firm.

We will continue to fight until we bring peace and security to every one of our children, in Gaza, in Sderot, in Tel Aviv, and in Ramallah.

Because we were all born free.
10:01 AM · Jul 5, 2025
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Ayman Odeh: We hope for the victory of the Palestinian people over the occupation

Knesset Member Ayman Odeh pledges to continue "fighting for an end to the war, for a comprehensive deal, for the end of the occupation, and for peace between the two peoples."

by Dalit Halevi for Israel National News
July 6, 2025

MK Ayman Odeh (Hadash, Joint List) stated that he hopes for the victory of the “Palestinian people” over "the occupation" in the military campaign taking place in the Gaza Strip.

In an interview on Wednesday with Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen television, which is affiliated with Hezbollah, MK Odeh said, "Our positions are completely clear, and accordingly, we demand an immediate end to the war, we hope for the victory of the Palestinian people over the occupation, and we call for an exchange deal between the hostages and prisoners."

MK Odeh claimed that "these are public positions" and that "these are positions supported by anyone with a conscience."

In a post on social media site X, MK Odeh responded to an initiative to oust him from the Knesset following his statements on Gaza, writing, “The move to expel me from the Knesset is part of a broader campaign of political persecution, led by the far right in a desperate attempt to secure a total victory for Kahanism in the upcoming elections.”

“The fact that members of the opposition chose to join this effort and helped gather the 70 required signatures is nothing less than full cooperation with the Likud’s orchestrated campaign,” he claimed, adding, “Since the war began, we’ve heard incitement for genocide from coalition MK, yet not a single one of them was expelled. But when an Arab member of the parliament dares to speak the truth, to pierce through the wall of silence surrounding this fascist government’s criminal policies, they rush to silence him.”

“I will keep fighting, for an end to the war, for a comprehensive deal, for an end to the occupation, for peace between our two peoples, for justice, for equality, and for the right of Arab citizens to vote and be elected with heads held high,” wrote Odeh.
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Continue reading at Israeli National News Source Link
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The Knesset vs Ayman Odeh

The move to impeach the MK, with the full backing of Jewish opposition lawmakers, sends a message to Palestinian citizens that voting is futile.

By Orly Noy for 972Mag
July 2, 2025

The Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz famously stated that “War is the continuation of politics by other means.” In Israel’s Knesset, that equation is reversed: parliamentary work has become the continuation of war by other means.

On Monday, the Knesset House Committee voted to impeach Palestinian parliamentarian Ayman Odeh, head of the predominantly Arab Hadash-Ta’al list. His crime? In January, as the two-month Gaza ceasefire came into effect, Odeh tweeted: “I am happy about the release of the [Israeli] hostages and [Palestinian] prisoners. From here, both peoples must be freed from the yoke of the occupation. We were all born free.”

As I watched the committee’s hearing, I felt like my eyes were bleeding. It was physically unbearable. Knesset members from across the political spectrum — who aren’t worthy of the dust on Odeh’s shoes when it comes to humanism, morality, and democratic integrity — competed to see who could spew the vilest rhetoric against him.

No one paid attention to the Knesset’s legal adviser — who, after the obligatory lip service condemning Odeh’s “disgusting statements,” concluded that there was no legal basis for his impeachment. And it goes without saying that no one listened to Odeh’s attorney, Dr. Hassan Jabareen, who explained why the proposal was procedurally flawed, legally unsound, and morally bankrupt.

From the first sentence to the last, the hearing was a farce. It ended with a vote of 14-2 in favor of the proposal, supported by all Jewish members of the committee — including those from opposition parties — and opposed only by two lone Palestinian MKs. The hearing was closed by committee chair Ofir Katz, of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party, who called Odeh a “routine supporter of terror” and declared that he “should rot in prison.” The proposal will now pass to a vote of the whole Knesset, requiring a supermajority of 90 MKs out of 120 to finalize Odeh’s expulsion.

The intended function of the “Impeachment Law,” which passed in 2016, was clear from the outset: giving Jewish lawmakers the power to expel Arab lawmakers.

Under the law, the only reason a sitting MK can be impeached is if their actions constitute “incitement to racism” or “support for armed struggle against the State of Israel.” In other words, lawmakers who are thieves, rapists, pimps, witness tamperers or just plain corrupt, have nothing to worry about. Nor do those who call for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in the West Bank or the genocide of those in Gaza; certainly, that cannot be considered “incitement to violence.”

Rather than protecting minority rights from the tyranny of the majority, an expanded panel of Israel’s High Court unanimously rejected petitions against the law in 2018, opting to empower Jewish parliamentarians — famously wise, fair, and judicious when it comes to their Arab counterparts — to remove those elected to represent over 20 percent of the country’s population.

The Supreme Court’s naïveté during that hearing was nothing short of dizzying. Then-Chief Justice Esther Hayut acknowledged that the law does significantly infringe on fundamental rights, but insisted it contains a system of checks and balances, and that “it cannot be said that it negates the democratic core of the state or shakes the foundations of the constitutional structure.”
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Continue reading at 972Mag News Source Link
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Knesset Advances Ousting of Israeli Arab MK Ayman Odeh Over Social Media Post

Knesset committee members clashed over Odeh's comments on a hostage-prisoner deal, with several participants removed from the hearing. Outside, Arab and Jewish Israelis held a rally urging lawmakers to halt the expulsion process

by Noa Shpigel and Adi Hashmonai for Haaretz

The Knesset House Committee voted Monday to advance the expulsion of Arab Israeli MK Ayman Odeh, advancing the motion to a full Knesset vote, where a majority of 90 lawmakers is required for approval.

Likud MK Avihai Boaron filed the request over a January social media post by Odeh expressing joy over the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners in a deal between Israel and Hamas.

Fourteen lawmakers voted in favor and two opposed. If the expulsion is approved, Odeh would have the right to appeal the decision in court.

Following the vote, Odeh said, "The opposition crossed a red line today. Instead of fighting the Kahanist government, it collaborated with it in crushing the democratic space. Some of them hate us more than they love democracy. This is not an opposition – it's the coalition in disguise."

He added, "They want to subjugate the justice system, silence dissenting voices, and turn Israel into a messianic dictatorship. Today it's me – tomorrow it's you. Anyone who dares to resist will be next."

"I'm happy to see the hostages and prisoners released," Odeh wrote in the social media post cited in the motion to expel him. "Next we must free both peoples from the burden of the occupation. We were all born free," the post concluded.
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Continue reading at Haaretz News Source Link