TEL AVIV, October 22, 2025 (WAFA) – The Israeli Knesset (parliament) will vote on Wednesday on a bill to annex the occupied West Bank to Israel by imposing „Israeli sovereignty“ over areas there.
According to the Israeli public radio, „Kan,“ the head of the far-right „Noam“ party, Avi Maoz, will be the one who will submit the bill for a vote.
Ayman Odeh, who is 50 and lists himself as an atheist (he was born in a Muslim family), leads the Arab-Jewish Hadash party that‘s part of the Joint List political group.
Hadash is considered a left-wing coalition formed by the Communist Party of Israel (Maki) and other like-minded groups.
Ofer Cassif, who is Jewish, is 60. He has represented Hadash in the Knesset since April 2019.
Left-wing Hadash party leader Ayman Odeh and party member Ofer Cassif interrupt President Trump‘s speech, yelling and holding a sign that says „Recognize a Palestinian state,“ and are forcefully removed from the Knesset by security.
“I welcome the decision of the UK, France, Australia, Canada and other countries to recognize a Palestinian state,” he wrote in X, adding that the Palestinian people are no better or worse than anyone else, but nevertheless deserve the right to self-determination. “On the first day of the winter session, I will place on the Knesset table a bill to recognize a Palestinian state. Because there are two people here, and the State of Israel must also recognize this simple fact.”
Hadash MK Aida Touma-Sliman told The Jerusalem Post that the recognition of a Palestinian state by “Western powers is an important step, but it is not enough, too little too late.” Touma-Sliman said that Palestinian state recognition “must be the beginning of a serious pressure campaign on Israel and its backers in the White House, including economic measures and arms embargoes.” “The world knows that the destruction of Gaza must end, and a Palestinian state must be established alongside Israel. It is time for action,” she said.
Upon MK Odeh’s arrival, dozens of rioters attacked his car and shouted racist slogans such as “Death to Arabs.” When MK Odeh spoke at the protest, he was attacked again, together with the other demonstrators, as various objects were thrown at them. Following his speech, MK Odeh managed to reach his car, while rioters armed with stones and sticks tried to attack him. At one point, the rioters hurled a large stone that shattered the vehicle’s rear windshield. After these events, the police arrested only three people: one of whom was a demonstrator who had been attacked by the rioters; he was released shortly thereafter at the police station. The court later released the two other individuals who were arrested and detained.
Following these events, right-wing activists uploaded dozens of posts and videos on social media platforms praising, sympathizing and encouraging these assaults; some even explicitly called for repeating such acts in the future.
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Alla Knesset non si può dire genocidio. Lo ha constatato a sue spese il deputato della lista di sinistra „Hadash-Taal“ Ofer Cassif. Durante un suo intervento in parlamento, ha citato lo scrittore israeliano David Grossman che in un‘intervista rilasciata a Repubblica ha dichiarato: „Per anni mi sono rifiutato di usare il termine genocidio, ma ora, dopo le immagini che ho visto e dopo aver parlato con le persone che erano lì, non posso più evitarlo“.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that Israeli parliamentarian Ofer Cassif, from the left-wing Hadash-Ta’al party, was forcibly removed from the Knesset podium on Monday night during a plenary session after quoting renowned Israeli writer and novelist David Grossman, who acknowledged in an interview with the Italian daily La Repubblica last week that, with “‘immense pain and a broken heart”, Israel is currently committing “genocide” in Gaza. “For years I refused to use the term genocide, but now, after the images I’ve seen and after speaking to people who were there, I can no longer avoid it,’” Cassif said in his speech. Haaretz said the session was chaired by deputy Knesset Speaker Nissim Vaturi, who interrupted Cassif, saying “That’s not a quote – that’s made up,” and demanded Cassif be removed from the podium, followed by Likud member Tali Gottlieb who shouted: “He will not say ‘genocide’ in here!” before Knesset ushers physically removed Cassif from the podium.
“The land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel,” declares Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana following the vote, adding that “Jews cannot be the occupiers” of their own ancestral homeland.
“This is our land. This is our home. The Land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel. In 1967, the occupation did not begin; it ended, and our homeland was returned to its rightful owners. We are the original first natives of this piece of land. Jews cannot be the ‘occupier’ of a land that for 3,000 years has been called Judea,” says Ohana.
“The hearing scheduled for today allows the government to dismiss the attorney general and any future advisor for foreign and corrupt considerations. In response to the fact that the advisor prevented illegal actions, ordered an investigation or prosecution of a coalition member, refused to halt a criminal proceeding against a sitting government member, or as part of a ‚political deal‘ to ensure the survival of the government,” she wrote.
The petition was put forth in January, when Odeh said he was “happy for the release of hostages and prisoners” as part of the Gaza truce that was signed that month. The petition clinched the required number of signatures after Odeh said at an anti-war protest in Haifa in May that “Gaza has won and Gaza will win.”
Both United Torah Judaism and Benny Gantz’s Blue and White—National Unity party boycott the vote, while Opposition Leader Yair Lapid and most of his Yesh Atid party’s MKs are absent as well.
The measure is supported by the coalition and by opposition party Yisrael Beytenu. The Democrats vote against it.
“It’s not a matter of parliamentary ethics, but of political censorship and persecution as well as terrorization (“chilling effect”) of the entire leftist camp, Arabs and Jews alike,” Cassif wrote in a response posted to X. “The real end behind this suspension is to thwart our faction from any parliamentary activity altogether, and, in the longer run, to eliminate any representation of the Arab and the democratic Jewish citizens. My repeated suspensions are merely the appetizer, as they were.”
Cassif was instead suspended by the Ethics Committee in November 2024 for six months due to critics against ethnic cleansing in Gaza and attempt to oust Cassif from his sea failed in the Knesset plenum in February 2024 due to insufficient support from the opposition, with only 85 MKs voting in favor, short of the required 90. That effort to remove Cassif from the parliament came in response to his public support for South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
Two political explosive hearings have been scheduled by the far right and racist coalition for July 14, in proceedings that could both set historical precedents. On that day, the Knesset will meet to vote on expelling Hadash-Ta’al faction chair Ayman Odeh from parliament, while a ministerial committee is also scheduled to hold a hearing on firing embattled Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.
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.
The impeachment was not just a response to specific statements but directed against “Odeh as a person and everything he represents,” Boaron said in his closing argument. At the end of the hearing, committee chairman Ofir Katz (Likud) said Odeh was a “bitter enemy” of Israel, and in a “normal country,” he would “rot in jail.”
Only Ra’am MK Waleed Taha and Hadash-Ta’al MK Ahmad Tibi voted against his impeachment.
The motion will now move to the Knesset’s plenary session for a majority vote of 90 members out of 120 to complete Odeh’s impeachment.
Even if his impeachment is approved, the Arab MK will still be able to file a petition against the decision with the Supreme Court.
Palestinians of 1948 (Arabs inside Israel) constitute 21% of Israel’s nearly 10 million population.
While a similar effort to oust Hadash-Ta’al MK Ofer Cassif failed in the Knesset plenum in February 2024 due to insufficient support from the opposition, opposition representatives on the committee were very much in favor of the motion this time around, with both Yesh Atid MK Simon Davidson and National Unity lawmaker Pnina Tamano-Shata voting in favor of impeachment.
(June 27, 2025)
In a display of open hostility, Committee Chair Ofir Katz declared to MK Odeh: “You won’t be in the Knesset—we will remain, and you won’t. Not in the Knesset, not in Israel.” Other MKs shouted that he should “keep shouting from jail,” while another told him: “You all should go to Gaza”. Right-wing MKs accused him of promoting a “violent Palestinian ideology,” said an indictment should already have been filed, and called him an “enemy from within.”
Chair Katz escalated the incitement further, stating: “While the soldiers are fighting on seven fronts, the eighth front needs to be cleared, and Ayman Odeh is our eighth front… He is continuously working to weaken the State of Israel, to discredit it, to undermine it and to strengthen its enemies.” When MK Odeh repeated that the Israeli military is committing war crimes—a statement for which he was already sanctioned by the Knesset Ethics Committee—the chair threatened: “If you continue to defame IDF soldiers, you will not be allowed to speak here.”
The committee blatantly ignored the Knesset legal advisor’s determination that only one statement—MK Odeh’s January tweet concerning the Israel-Hamas deal—could be legally considered. Instead, MKs used the hearing to dredge up unrelated political positions and to launch personal attacks, in open defiance of the law and the legal advisor’s position.
MK Odeh’s January statement was a tweet that read: “Happy about the release of the hostages and prisoners. From here, we must free both peoples from the burden of occupation. We were all born free.” During the hearing, he reaffirmed his support for this statement and others, including his position that Israel is committing crimes against humanity against Palestinians in Gaza.
The Knesset Home Committee held an impeachment hearing against Hadash-Ta’al chair MK Ayman Odeh on Tuesday morning, June 24, after far-right Likud MK Avihai Boaron in recent weeks collected 70 signatures from MKs in favor of launching the procedure who received the support of opposition MKs from three Zionist parties – Yisrael Beytenu, National Unity, and Yesh Atid.
Odeh was punished with salary deduction and suspended from the plenum and Knesset committees for two weeks, among other things for statements that “what the army is doing in Gaza is murder and massacre.” Touma-Sliman and Tibi were suspended from the plenum and the Knesset for three days, following posts in which they referred to Israeli soldiers in Gaza as “murderers and occupiers.”
By bringing the bill to a vote, the opposition parties planned to exploit a fight within the governing coalition over the contentious, decades-old policy that has largely exempted ultra-Orthodox men who are studying religion in seminaries from compulsory military service.
Likud MK Yuli Edelstein, who heads the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, releases a statement declaring that “after long deliberations, we have reached agreements on principles on which to base a proposal for the enlistment law,” signaling an end to the coalition crisis.
If the legislation to dissolve the Knesset passes its preliminary vote today, it would still need to pass three further votes to take effect. If it is voted down, the opposition will have to wait six months to bring another Knesset dissolution bill to a vote.
The opposition bills calling for the dissolution of the Knesset are expected to be brought up between 10:00 and 11:00 p.m., with a special plenary session set to honor Argentinian President Javier Milei, who is visiting the Knesset on Wednesday. The session will also include a speech by Netanyahu.
This move comes in response to statements Odeh made about three months ago expressing support for a comprehensive prisoner exchange deal involving the release of both Palestinian detainees and Israeli hostages. He also declared at a recent “Partnership for Peace” demonstration in Haifa on last Saturday, that “Gaza will triumph over the policy of war and destruction,” and that “the Palestinian people will defeat the occupation.”
In response, Odeh stated that he “stands proudly” behind his humanitarian stance, which calls for an immediate end to the war and a comprehensive political agreement. He emphasized that “the Palestinian people’s victory over the occupation is a historical inevitability” and that his views “reflect a human conscience and are supported by the vast majority of the world’s people.”
Odeh also criticized the petition’s signatories for their silence on the killing of children in Gaza, noting that some of them “called for Gaza to be completely wiped out.” He declared in a press statement: “I will stand firm—alongside national forces and every democratic, conscientious individual—and we will face this rabid campaign with confidence and deep conviction.”
“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 said on X.
A member of Israel‘s right-wing coalition threatened to quit the cabinet on Wednesday and support an opposition motion to dissolve parliament tabled for next week, piling pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Latest opinion polls suggest that Netanyahu‘s coalition would lose power if an election was held today, with many voters unhappy over the continued war in Gaza prompted by the attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel in October 2023.
Despite a crisis that makes an early election seem more likely, Likud members remain confident that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu see things unfold differently. The speculation includes scenarios ranging from a partial hostage deal to a significant security event.
Speaking with the Haaretz daily following a faction meeting held to discuss whether or not to support the UTJ-led move, a Shas source said that the party will push to dissolve the Knesset, a move that would strip the coalition of its majority and trigger new elections.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government was teetering Wednesday after the spiritual leaders of Degel Hatorah, one of the two factions that make up the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, instructed their MKs to introduce a bill to dissolve the Knesset due to the coalition’s failure to pass a law exempting yeshiva students from conscription — a longstanding UTJ goal.
On Wednesday morning, Degel Hatorah chair MK Moshe Gafni received the instructions from rabbis Moshe Hirsch, the dean of Bnei Brak’s Slabodka yeshiva, and Dov Lando, the senior leader of the so-called Lithuanian stream of non-Hasidic ultra-Orthodoxy and the chairman of the faction’s ruling Council of Torah Sages.
In his question, Odeh demands to know who gave the order to bomb the building; what the criteria were for giving that order; what the military policy is regarding “bombing homes with civilians inside them;” and what the policy is for evacuating civilians from their homes. “Nine children under the age of 12 were burned to death inside their home,” says Odeh. “We demand accountability. This crime is not an ‘operational error’ — it is a government waging a war of extermination against civilians. We will not remain silent in the face of war crimes.”
“The Israeli army carried out a strike last Friday on the Al-Najjar family home in Khan Younis, which resulted in the death of nine children from the family,” said in a statement. “Responsibility for this crime does not lie with what they call an operational error, but with a government conducting a genocidal war against the civilian population,” the Hadash MK said. “We will not remain silent in the face of war crimes.” According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 16,503 Palestinian children have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 2023.
May 22, 2025 KNESSET YISRAEL
Ayman Odeh, a member of the Arab-Jewish Hadash party, was forcefully removed from the podium in the Israeli parliament as he criticised Israel‘s war on Gaza and the rising death toll
MK Ayman Odeh (Hadash) was forcefully removed from the podium in the Knesset on Wednesday, May 21, after a shouting match with far-right coalition members which he criticized to prolong the Gaza war. He accused the occupation army of the mounting dead Palestinian children toll. “It is only a war on innocent people, a massacre,” he said.