The Knesset Ethics Committee on Wednesday, 27 Adar, decided to distance MK Hanin Zoabi from Knesset for a week after referring to IDF soldiers as “murderers”. The ban includes Zoabi’s participation in the plenum or Knesset committee sessions.

The complaints against Zoabi was submitted by MK (Likud) Oren Hazan, who himself was distanced from Knesset and committees two months ago for a half year by the Ethics Committee. Zoabi’s punishment week will be the first week of the summer session, following the Pesach vacation.

The incident took place last month during a discussion regarding the radical left-wing Breaking the Silence organization, a discussion initiated by MK Shuli Muallem, chairwoman of the Bayit Leumi faction in Knesset. It was during this session that Zoabi argued that “the IDF is killing Palestinians.”

She added one can use the term murderer against a person who once murdered in his life, so too the IDF, which kills occasionally, not every day.”

MK Zoabi responded to the committee’s decision and said: “I did say that among the IDF soldiers there those who murdered Palestinians, and I am very happy to have a discussion on this issue. It is at the very nature of freedom of expression. No one has the right to shut our mouths since the opinion is not comfortable for some. I would be more than pleased to send you information about many of the Palestinians killed by IDF soldiers.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)