(4.1.2018) Opinion: With the departure of MK Dov Khenin, the Knesset is losing one of its most diligent and accomplished members, unlike so many others who constantly seek media coverage and sensational headlines.
Archiv: Knesset
Almost half of Israel-Arabs dissatisfied with Joint List
Numbering 1.8 million and constituting just over 20 per cent of Israel’s population, Palestinian citizens of Israel represent an increasingly strong proportion of the Israeli electorate. In 2015, 82 per cent of these voters opted for the Joint List, giving the alliance 13 seats in the 120-seat Israeli Knesset.
Warum Israels „Grundgesetze“ nicht vergleichbar sind mit unserer Verfassung
Sehr zum Leidwesen der E.U.-Reichsbürger und ihrer entsprechenden Pendants kann in der Berliner Republik die Verfassung nur durch Zwei-Drittel-Mehrheit in zwei Parlamentskammern (Bundestag und Bundesrat) geändert und nur durch eine Volksabstimmung gestürzt werden.
Im Gegensatz dazu werden Israels „Grundgesetze“ lediglich in einer einzigen Parlamentskammer (der Knesset) mit absoluter Mehrheit beschlossen, wie alle anderen Gesetze. Inwieweit sich der Status der „Grundgesetze“, die irgendwann einmal eine Verfassung bilden sollen, überhaupt von allen anderen Gesetzen unterscheidet, ist in Israel bis heute umstritten.
Activists wave Declaration of Independence in stormy Knesset nation-state debate
In her speech, Livni railed against the right-wing government, called for early elections and said the opposition would pass the Declaration of Independence as a basic law in lieu of the nation-state law passed by the right-wing coalition on July 19.
Israeli Arab Leader Suspended From Knesset Debates for Insulting Police Officers
(3.7.2018) The incident in questioned occurred after a protest in Haifa against the killing of Palestinians along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel. Odeh had gone to the Bnei Zion (Rothschild) Medical Center in Haifa to visit human rights activist Jafar Farah, who claims that an Israel Police officer had cursed and beaten him during the demonstration. When the police tried to prevent the MK from entering the hospital, Odeh responded by yelling insults at them, telling them, “Who are you at all? Go to hell!“ And, he added, “You are nothing!”
Ethics Committee members decided that with such behavior, Odeh had violated the directive whereby MKs must act in a way that is appropriate to their status as representatives of the public.
Case Against Policemen Who Assaulted Israeli Arab Lawmaker Dropped
(29.7.2018) The investigation first focused on the sponge-tipped bullets. The police rebutted Odeh’s claim that he was hit by one, arguing that no fire was directed at him and that he was hit by stones thrown by protesters. A medical report could not determine what caused his wound, and questions remain.
Haaretz has learned that none of the policemen had mentioned the confrontation with Odeh in his report, and investigators could not identify who used the pepper spray, even though the entire incident was documented on videotape.
Israeli Arab MK Zouheir Bahloul from Zionist Union party quits Knesset over Nation state law
Nationalitätengesetz: Knesset-Mandatar tritt zurück
Er könne seinem Enkel nicht ins Gesicht sagen, dass er Teil eines Parlaments geblieben sei, das dieses Gesetz verabschiedet habe, sagte der Politiker der oppositionellen Zionistischen Einheitspartei gestern dem Sender Reshet TV.
Er wolle „diesem destruktiven, rassistischen, extremistischen Parlament“ keine Legitimität verleihen, sagte Bahlul in dem Interview.
Arab lawmakers tossed out after they tear nation-state bill in protest
(19.7.2018)
EU Foreign Policy Chief to Meet With Israeli Arab Lawmakers
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini will meet a delegation of Israeli Arab lawmakers, headed by Joint List head Ayman Odeh in Brussels on September 4. This is the first time Mogherini would be meeting with Israeli Arab lawmakers.
Netanyahu to Make It Official: Fascism Is What We Are
(10.7.2018) Benjamin Netanyahu has a message for you. ‚Jewish‘ is not what this state is. Our message, our mission has become something else. And it starts with an F.
‘Racist and Discriminatory’: U.S. Jewish Leaders Warn Israel Against Passage of Nation-state Bill
Some 7,000 demonstrators in Tel Aviv march from Rabin Square to an ‚emergency rally‘ to protest the bill ■ New Israel Fund CEO: ‚This is tribalism at its worst‘
Israel Passes Controversial Nation-state Bill Allowing It to Encourage Establishment of Jewish-only Communities
62 MKs vote in favor of the bill after a stormy debate and changes to problematic clauses ■ Arab lawmakers tossed out of Knesset after they tear bill in protest, call it ‚apartheid law‘
Israel’s AG Says He Won’t Delay Netanyahu Probe Even if Elections Called
The attorney general also said there’s a feeling that the Knesset is trying to undermine the law enforcement system. “At times it seems the law enforcement system is standing alone,” he said, pledging to continue with the struggle against corruption.
Israel, a State Unencumbered by Democracy
In a rare move, the Knesset presidium last week refused Balad’s request to bring the party’s proposal for a Basic Law: Israel as a State of All Its Citizens before the Knesset for discussion and a vote…
One on One: Interview with Haneen Zoabi
(30.4.2018) TRT World’s Shiulie Ghosh talks to Palestinian Knesset member Haneen Zoabi.
Zoabi calls soldiers ‚murderers,‘ is removed from Knesset
“MKs from the Left are actually those who wish to privatize the suffering and disconnect the cause from the effect … The responsibility for the suffering of the women in the Gaza Strip lies solely with Israel. After Israel destroyed the infrastructure and the agriculture in Gaza, it dictates to the people there how and where to eat,” she added in rage.
Zoabi went on with her charge. “You all should be boycotted. The people in Gaza are refugees, their land is in Israel. Those murdered by the soldiers are not being accounted for. Democracy is a nightmare in the Knesset,” she accused.
Knesset disqualifies bill seeking equal status for Jews and Arabs
(5.6.2018) The bill was sponsored by Balad, an Arab political faction and member of the Joint List – an alliance of four predominantly Arab parties – in the parliament.
Haneen Zoabi, a Balad member of the Knesset and one of the bill’s sponsors, told Al Jazeera the proposed legislation aimed to make Israel more democratic – especially in its treatment of Arab citizens.
Public Security, Justice Ministers Snub Meeting of Police Brutality Lobby in Knesset
(4.6.2018) The lobby brings together groups from the whole political spectrum, from minority communities such as the Arabs and Ethiopians, the ultra-Orthodox, LGBTQs, settlers, the disabled, representatives of people slated for eviction from the Tel Aviv neighborhood Givat Amal, and more.
At the meeting on Monday, protesters, their families and representatives of social organizations testified on cases in which police officers allegedly used excessive force.
Israeli Defense Chief Accuses Center-left, ultra-Orthodox Parties of Thwarting ‚Terrorist‘ Lawmaker’s Removal From Knesset
(4.6.2018) Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Monday that the reason lawmaker Haneen Zoabi (Joint List) is still sitting in the Knesset is because members of the center-left and ultra-Orthodox parties refuse to support her dismissal.
Lieberman said he „cannot understand why (Deputy Health Minister) Yaakov Litzman (United Torah Judaism), (opposition head) Isaac Herzog (Zionist Union), and Ofer Shelah (Yesh Atid), are supporting this terrorist.“ Lieberman also snapped at Meretz chairwoman Tamar Zandberg, saying: „nobody expects anything else from you.“
The Justices ‚Wisely Chose Not to Intervene‘ in Israel’s Legislation
(30.5.2018) The law itself is bad, undemocratic and non-egalitarian. It theoretically makes it possible for an elected lawmaker to be removed on the basis of his political rivals’ interpretation of the terms “racism” and “support for terrorism.” What exactly is racism and what exactly is support for terrorism? When Culture Minister Miri Regev says that the African asylum seekers are a cancer in the nation’s body, is that racism or a medical diagnosis? Does a call for Nakba Day demonstrations or the mere use of the term “Nakba” qualify as incitement to terrorism? Until now, these were matters for the High Court to determine. But from now on, the Knesset will decide who is a racist and who is a terrorist.
Israeli Defense Chief Accuses Center-left, ultra-Orthodox Parties of Thwarting ‚Terrorist‘ Lawmaker’s Removal From Knesset
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Monday that the reason lawmaker Haneen Zoabi (Joint List) is still sitting in the Knesset is because members of the center-left and ultra-Orthodox parties refuse to support her dismissal.
Lieberman said he „cannot understand why (Deputy Health Minister) Yaakov Litzman (United Torah Judaism), (opposition head) Isaac Herzog (Zionist Union), and Ofer Shelah (Yesh Atid), are supporting this terrorist.“ Lieberman also snapped at Meretz chairwoman Tamar Zandberg, saying: „nobody expects anything else from you.“
‚Ban Joint List from running in next election‘
(24.5.2018) National Union Party Secretary-General Ophir Sofer sent a letter to Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit Thursday stating that ere is a strong suspicion of terrorist activity by MKs from the Joint Arab List faction.
The letter was sent following the participation of MKs Ayman Odeh, Aida Touma Suleiman and Yousef Jabareen in the violent riots in Haifa last weekend.
Every Day That Lieberman Is Defense Minister
“Every day that Ayman Odeh is not in prison is a failure of law enforcement,” Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said of the chairman of the Joint List, the third largest bloc in the Knesset. Interior Minister Gilad Erdan — who lost no haste in pronouncing Yakub Abu al-Kian, who was shot dead by police in Umm al-Hiran, a terrorist — quickly joined in. He announced that he would ask the attorney general to launch a criminal investigation against Odeh, who cursed out a police officer at the hospital where Jafar Farah, the director of Mossawa Center, the Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens in Israel, was being treated while under arrest in connection to a protest in Haifa.
Unbelievable. Israel’s Defense Minister incited against Palestinian Knesset member Ayman Odeh & joint list members for criticizing the police, calling them „terrorists“ who belong in jail not Knesset & threatening it is time for them „to pay the price“ (whatever that means)
Israeli Committee Approves Bill Allowing Knesset To Override Supreme Court
The Knesset’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation by a vote of 11 to 1 on Sunday approved the bill, known as the override power bill, an amendment to Israel’s Basic Law, which would allow the legislative body to reenact laws that have previously been struck down by the Supreme Court by a simple majority of the 120-member Knesset.
The Knesset could begin voting on the legislation as early as Wednesday.
Israels Regierung will Befugnisse des Obersten Gerichts beschneiden
(6.5.2018) Künftig soll das Parlament Gesetze, die das Gericht als verfassungsfeindlich ausgesetzt hat, erneut verabschieden können, hieß es am Sonntag in einer Mitteilung des Justizministeriums.
Under Cover of Iran, Netanyahu Just Took Three New Steps Toward Fascism
As the prime minister spoke, however, as a war-anxious nation and an attentive, approving White House hung on his every word, a little over 30 miles up the road, in Jerusalem, a mortal threat to Israel was being assembled under our very noses. In the Knesset, no less. A set of three time bombs, complex, deadly, radioactive.
Each of them a step toward annihilating Israel as we have come to know it. Each of them a step toward dictatorial rule, toward fascism. Each of them approved by – spurred by – Netanyahu himself.
Israel’s Netanyahu Can Now Declare War on Iran With Single Vote
Following a 20-minute presentation in which Netanyahu accused Iran of covertly pursuing nuclear weapons, reports emerged that the Israeli Knesset approved 62 to 41 the amendment to Israeli law regarding the authorization for the declaration of war. The new regime included a clause suggested by Netanyahu himself, one that requires only Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s approval to initiate a war „in extreme situations,“ according to the state-run Kann News and Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
Supreme Court president pleads with Netanyahu not to endanger democracy
The Israeli public believes if the Supreme Court is denied the capacity to strike down laws enacted by the Knesset, there will be no checks on the government and it will have unlimited power.
Not One Israeli Opposition Member Stood in Solidarity
(24.1.2018) The only ones who faithfully represented opponents of the occupation, seekers of peace and lovers of Israeli democracy on Tuesday were the members of the Joint List. All the other opposition members, by their spontaneous apathy, proved that their leader is none other than Netanyahu, and that they deserve their marginal role in the nationalist puppet theater that the prime minister manages.
Arab MKs protest and removed by force from Knesset moments into Pence speech
(22.1.2018)
Lapid wants controversial Arab MK booted from the Knesset
(22.4.2018) Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid announced on Sunday that his faction will support legislation enabling the Knesset to oust controversial Arab-Israel lawmaker Hanin Zoabi from office.
Lapid said that he decided that Zoabi needed to be booted from the Knesset after she said two weeks ago that ‚millions of Palestinians‘ should march on Jerusalem following the violent riots in Gaza.