British MP Jeremy Corbyn (left) meets Hadash MK Ofer Cassif, Nov. 12, 2025 (Photo: Al Ittihad)
Archiv: Members of Knesset (MKs)
MK Odeh in Berlin: Germany – Recognize Palestine
According to Odeh, “Every hostage returned from Gaza is a victory. Every child and family who survived Gaza is a victory. But that is not the victory Netanyahu wants.” He said, “What has been achieved and at what price? Palestinian cities have been erased from the map. Tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza were killed, including 20,000 children. Hundreds of thousands were left without homes. This is not a victory. This is devastation,” and called on “those responsible for crimes against humanity” to be held accountable.
“The Israeli state was already like Sparta – now it has become a super Sparta. If this is victory, what does defeat look like?” Odeh wondered. Odeh also urged Germany to recognize a Palestinian state, saying that the only request he had of U.S. President Donald Trump when he came to address Israel’s Knesset in October was to recognize a Palestinian state. “So, I ask you too: Germany – recognize Palestine! Recognize that there are two people in our shared homeland, both with the right to self-determination,” he cried out, to great applause.
Regarding Germany, Odeh said that Berlin “carries the scars of the 20th century and stands as a living reminder of how far human cruelty can go when power is absolute. When racism is normalized and people are dehumanized. But a city like Berlin can be both a graveyard for history, resistance culture and rebirth,” he said. Odeh also said the history of Berlin teaches that “silence in the face of injustice is deadly. It was silence that made the greatest crime of the century possible. And yet, today we see silence return, dressed up in diplomatic language.”
Odeh urges opposition factions to work together to topple Netanyahu’s government ‘as soon as possible’
Hadash-Ta’al chairman Ayman Odeh calls on fellow opposition factions to join together to topple Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government “as soon as possible.”
Addressing reporters ahead of his party’s weekly faction meeting in the Knesset, Odeh says that the government has three aims during the current parliamentary session, “harming the West Bank…promoting the judicial coup…and preventing the Arab population from running in the next elections.”
Knesset MP Ofer Cassif on the Need for Palestinian Liberation
(October 18, 2025)
Dora Mengüç After October 7, Israeli society went through a deep trauma. You’ve said the government weaponized that trauma.
Ofer Cassif Yes. The massacre committed by Hamas was horrific — we all condemned it. But the government used fear, pain, and rage to manipulate people and justify a genocidal war.
The attack on Gaza had nothing to do with the well-being of Israelis, not even revenge. It was about realizing a preexisting plan — the annexation of occupied Palestinian territories without granting basic rights, and the expulsion of Palestinians who resist.
(…)
The only solution is the two-state solution. Gaza should be liberated, the West Bank including East Jerusalem must be liberated. The Palestinian people must be liberated — which, in my view, is also the liberation of the Israeli people. Because, of course, Palestinians are the main victims of occupation and apartheid — but we Israelis are also hostages of the fanaticism that sustains this system.
Who are Israel Parliament members Ayman Odeh, Ofer Cassif who showed ‘recognise Palestine’ sign to Trump?
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.
Hadash party leader Ayman Odeh and party member Ofer Cassif interrupt President Trump‘s speech
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.
Abbas Receives Israeli Peace Activists, Welcomes Ceasefire Agreement
At the end of the meeting, President Abbas renewed his welcome to the visiting delegation and emphasized the importance of meetings in building bridges of trust between the Palestinian and Israeli sides. He expressed hope that this meeting would mark the beginning of a new path, not only in politics, but also in the shared human conscience between the two sides. President Abbas called on the delegation members to form a popular Israeli front for a just peace that would make the voice of reason heard within Israeli society.
MK Odeh to Submit Bill to Knesset to Recognize Palestinian State
“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.
U.S. Bans Visas for PA Ahead of UN General Assembly; ‘Trump Is an Enemy of Palestine’
According to Hadash MK Ayman Odeh, “In the end, only Israel and the US, perhaps along with Micronesia, will stand alone on the international stage, trying to defy the will of the majority of the world’s nations. Trump’s decision to prevent the Palestinians from participating in the UN General Assembly is yet another direct attack on the international order. But it doesn’t really change anything: the Palestinian people have the right to self-determination, just like any other people in the world. The whole world knows this and supports this fundamental right, and everyone who believes in justice and peace stands with the Palestinian people, now, more than ever.”
“Trump’s decision to ban Palestinians from the UN summit in New York is a full and direct attack on the UN and the international order. The US is an enemy of the Palestinian cause and is fully supportive of the genocidal settler Israeli government. The rest of the world, the UN, and all peace-loving peoples must resist this attack and stand by the Palestinian people. If it be – the UN conference should be held in Europe”, Hadash MK Aida Touma-Sliman agreed,
MK Cassif: More of Us in Israel are Saying No to this Endless War
(August 27, 2025)
As the descendant of a Jewish family from Poland, the words “never again” have significant meaning for me. In the aftermath of the Second World War, humankind vowed to never again allow such atrocities to occur. The Holocaust, the mass extermination of the Jewish people, plumbed the very depths of tyrannical evil. Precisely because of this heritage, I view “never again” as a universal imperative.
In 1948, the international community adopted the universal declaration of human rights and the convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide. In the decades since, we have failed globally many times to safeguard this invaluable truth: that people must not perish in flames, and such heinous crimes must not be perpetrated while outsiders stand idly by. But never in recent times have people around the world started into the abyss of annihilation as we are doing today in Gaza. As such, “never again” is not merely a moral reminder but an ethical decree to act.
Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me, as the saying goes. It seems that Netanyahu manages to fool western leaders time and time again. On Friday, in response to the IPC declaration of famine, the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, said it was an “utterly horrifying and wholly preventable man-made catastrophe”. May I ask Lammy and the rest of the British cabinet – are you among the people responsible for this catastrophe?
Adalah: Police’s Failure to Investigate Attempted Lynch of MK Odeh
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.
WATCH: Israeli politician forcibly removed from Knesset podium
(video)
Israele, il deputato Cassif cita Grossman e parla di genocidio. Allontanato dall‘aula con la forza
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“.
Ofer Cassif removed from Knesset podium for quoting David Grossman
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.
With only 73 votes in favor, motion to expel Hadash-Ta’al chair Ayman Odeh fails to pass
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.
Senators Bernie Sanders, Peter Welch and Chris Van Hollen in Solidarity with Odeh
(16 hours ago)
“We strongly condemn the effort to expel MK Ayman Odeh from the Israeli Knesset,” the US senators said. “If Israel is going to call itself a democracy, it must tolerate peaceful dissent.” The senators linked the expulsion effort to Odeh’s calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, and a political solution between Israelis and Palestinians.
“For over a decade, MK Odeh has been a leading advocate for peace, justice, and Jewish-Arab partnership,” they said. “The current expulsion effort is a direct response to MK Odeh’s outspoken and brave calls.” The lawmakers described the move as sending “a chilling message to millions of Palestinian citizens of Israel: that their representation is conditional and their rights revocable.” “We stand in solidarity with MK Odeh and with the right of all lawmakers, Arab and Jewish, to speak freely and without fear of political retribution,” they said.
Knesset Suspends Hadash MK Cassif for Accusing Israeli Soldiers of Committing Genocide in Gaza
“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.
Hearings on Ousting Attorney General and Top Hadash MK Both Scheduled for July 14
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.
The Knesset vs Ayman Odeh
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.
MK Ayman Odeh decries Knesset House Committee as ‚fascist‘ after impeachment vote
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.
Israeli Knesset committee approves motion to impeach Arab lawmaker Ayman Odeh
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.
Panel votes to impeach Arab MK Ayman Odeh, paving way for possible ouster from Knesset
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.
Attempted removal of Ayman Odeh from the Israeli Knesset
EDM (Early Day Motion) 695: tabled on 24 January 2025
Tabled in the 2024-25 session.
This motion has been signed by 10 Members. It has not yet had any amendments submitted.
Motion text
That this House expresses deep concern regarding the efforts of Israeli coalition and opposition politicians to oust MK Ayman Odeh from the Knesset; joins Odeh in welcoming the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal which enabled the exchange of Israeli and Palestinian hostages and abductees; supports the sentiment of Palestinians and Israelis being freed from the burden of occupation and building a shared future; notes that, of the 90 Palestinians hostages most recently released by Israel, 69 were women, 21 were children, and most had been held without charge or trial; acknowledges the existence of myriad political mechanisms that enable the targeting, exclusion, and marginalisation of Palestinian-Israeli members of the Knesset, including the conflation of one’s support for Palestinian rights with support for terrorism or incitement to violence; further notes the similar employment of the impeachment process against MK Ofer Cassif, as a result of his signing a petition in support of the South Africa’s case forwarded in the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza; believes in the value of maintaining a representative democracy that encompasses a broad array of political, social, and ethnic creeds; and calls on the Government to vehemently oppose any efforts by Israeli parliamentarians to further solidify an ethnocratic, apartheid state, and deny the Palestinian population’s right to self-determination through the rooting out of democratically elected officials that represent their cause.
Knesset Hearing Offers the Clearest Evidence: Expulsion Attempt Against MK Ayman Odeh Is a Political and Inciteful Campaign Against Palestinian Representation
(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.
Standing Up for Hadash MK Ayman Odeh Free Speech in the Knesset
On last Tuesday, June 24, during wars in Gaza and Iran, the Knesset House Committee began the process of expelling MK Ayman Odeh (Hadash). Why? He protected free speech and called for the end of war and occupation. But in a so called “Israel democracy” a political speech by a Hadash MK is grounds for dismissal. Dr Hassan Jabareen of Adalah—The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights, who is serving as Odeh’s legal counsel and is arguing as such.
Att. Jabareen, condemned the process as fundamentally flawed and unlawful, noting that the MKs’ refusal to follow the legal advisor’s ruling violated Odeh’s rights and rendered the entire procedure illegitimate. He emphasized that Odeh’s speech is fully legal and protected. The proceedings confirmed what has been clear from the outset of this process: the expulsion attempt is a dangerous, inciteful escalation in the ongoing political assault against Hadash and Arab Palestinian lawmakers in Israel.
Standing Up for Arab Leader’s Free Speech in the Knesset
As former Executive Director of Breaking the Silence Avner Gvaryahu wrote, Ayman “proves that it is possible to be a proud Palestinian Arab and still work for a better Israeli society for everyone.”
He continued:
Jewish-Arab partnership is not just a matter of social justice or a historical correction. It is the basis of any genuine vision of change in the Middle East. As long as we continue to live in the reality of separation, suspicion and dominance of one group over another, we will continue to walk in the same circles of violence and oppression. Partnership offers another way—a way through, in which the national conflict does not have to define every relationship between Jews and Arabs.
Therefore repelling Ayman from the public sphere is not only an expulsion of an Arab citizen [from the Knesset], but also a continued expulsion of the ideas of the left. This is a clear message [from the government] that the politics of partnership is undesirable, that the public space is only for those willing to remain silent about the occupation and settle for crumbs. It’s part of a broader process of narrowing democratic space and revoking the legitimacy of critical votes.
MK Ayman Odeh at Mass Protest in Kfar Sava: We Must End the War on Gaza
MK Ayman Odeh, the Hadash lawmaker facing impeachment proceedings, called for unity and a ceasefire at mass anti-war protest in Kfar Saba, central Israel. “We must reach a comprehensive deal. We must bring back all the hostages. We must end the war on Gaza,” said Odeh, who leads the Hadash-Ta’al faction. “Enough! Enough with the wars!”
In an appeal to the crowd, Odeh said, “I am your partner. And you are my partners. Yes, there are differences, there are disagreements, but I want you to know: I am your partner, because my soul still yearns for freedom. I am your partner, because I still believe in humanity.” Odeh, who was invited to speak by the organizers of the protest, concluded his remarks by calling to continue the demonstrations. “After so much death, suffering, and tears, better days will come. We will bring them,” he told the crowd.
Knesset Holds Impeachment Hearing for Hadash MK Ayman Odeh
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.
Penalties for Hadash MKs Who Called Occupation Soldiers ‘Murderers’
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.”
Impeachment Proceedings Against MK Odeh Opened
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.
MK Odeh Demands to Explain Gaza Strike that Killed 9 Kids
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.
Yair Golan blamed by Israeli ministers for Washington terror attack
In the wake of the deadly shooting attack in Washington, DC, Israeli Heritage Minister Amihai Eliyahu charged Democrats Party leader Yair Golan that their „blood is on your hands.“
Golan earlier stirred controversy for slamming the current government as one which „kills babies as a hobby,“ later clarifying that his criticism was aimed at the government, not the Israeli military.
Israeli opposition MP forcefully removed from podium after blasting Gaza war
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