Chairman of the Yesh Atid faction, MK Ofir Shelah announced on Sunday, 7 Iyar, that he does not intend to sign the petition to oust Knesset Member Hanin Zoabi, saying that it would be a bonus for her.

“I do not like Hanin Zoabi,” he wrote, “she is a provocateur who crossed every border for a headline and it’s hard to even say that her existence in the Knesset is a badge of honor for Israeli democracy because she does not represent anyone other than herself … In the elections for mayor of Nazareth, Zoabi received a few percent, even the Balad party pushed her out of the list.”

However, Shelah said, “I am against the law permitting the ousting of an MK, and as chairman of the faction, I promised myself that I would do everything possible so that it would never be implemented. It is another law that is characteristic of this government, which understands nothing about democracy, only with incitement,” he said.

A member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee added that “if Zoabi violated the law against terrorism or incitement or any other law, an indictment will be filed against her and she will be stripped of her immunity, as happened to Basel Ghattas.”

He insists that ousting Zoabi now is “Doing her a favor she does not deserve”. Shelah explained that instead of ousting her and awarding her, making her appear that she is a victim in her fight for democracy, while a simple complaint about her behavior could be filed with the Knesset Ethics Committee, which would oust her for six months and the same results would be accomplished.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)