Joint Arab List members Jamal Zahalka (L), Hanin Zoabi (R) and Basel Ghattas, who visited the families of dead Palestinian terrorists. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
To defend Israel’s democracy, the Knesset is passing a bill that will enable the expulsion of lawmakers who work to undermine it.
The Knesset, Israel’s parliament, has given preliminary approval to a bill allowing lawmakers to suspend a legislator who incites against the state by a three-quarters majority vote.
Lawmakers drafted the bill after three Arab lawmakers visited the families of Palestinian terrorists who had attacked and murdered Israelis and after several of them voiced support for the Lebanon-based Hezbollah terror group and condemned a resolution by Arab Gulf states to officially declare it a terror organization.
“Members of Knesset who go to console the families of terrorists who murdered Israelis do not deserve to be in the Israeli Knesset,” Prime MInister Benjamin Netanyahu stated in February after the provocative visit.
In the last six months, Palestinian terrorists have murdered 34 victims in stabbings, shooting and vehicular attacks.
Nissan Slomiansky, of the Jewish Home party, presented the bill Monday, saying “there are limits to democracy.”
“We cannot allow someone who supports terror and meets with those who kill Jews to sit beside us in the Knesset. There is no parliament in the world where such a thing would be allowed to happen. Even democracy has its red lines,” he explained
Legislators could suspend a colleague for “inciting to racism,” ”supporting armed struggle, by an enemy state or terrorist organization, against Israel,” or “negating the existence of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.”
The bill must pass two more readings in order to become law.
By: AP and United with Israel Staff