A prominent Palestinian-Israeli politician is on the brink of expulsion from parliament over comments on a hostage deal with Hamas, raising new fears about freedom of expression in wartime Israel.
An Israeli parliamentary committee voted to advance the impeachment of Ayman Odeh, leader of the majority Israeli-Arab Hadash Ta’al party. He will now face a vote in front of the entire Knesset after its House Committee voted 14 to 2 to expel him on Monday.
The case relates to a January social media post in which Mr Odeh wrote: “Happy about the release of hostages and [Palestinian] prisoners. From here, both peoples need to be freed from the burden of the occupation; we were born free.”
Some politicians were outraged that Mr Odeh celebrated the freeing of Palestinian prisoners and detainees as part of the deal. The process to impeach Mr Odeh began after a politician from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party filed a request.
Mr Odeh said Israel’s opposition “crossed a red line” by voting against him instead of fighting Mr Netanyahu's far-right coalition. “Some of [the opposition] hate us more than they love democracy. This is not an opposition – it's the coalition in disguise,” Mr Odeh added.
During a hearing on the matter, Likud MP Osher Shekalim said Mr Odeh would “face a firing squad in any other country”.
The vote for impeachment is the latest step taken against Israelis who have advocated for Palestinians since the October 7 attacks by Hamas. This has included legal trouble for academics and journalists, punitive measures taken against left-wing politicians and heavy-handed policing of anti-war demonstrations.
Although most Israelis continue to support a hostage agreement, the release of Palestinians in exchanges, many of whom are held on security charges, is deeply controversial, particularly in right-wing circles.
Israeli politician Sami Abou Shehadeh slammed the impeachment decision, writing on X that “there is a fundamental misunderstanding of the concept of freedom of expression” in Israel.
“In the current Knesset, the majority's perception of freedom of expression exists only to praise the criminal Netanyahu or to call for the expansion of the occupation, starvation, war crimes and destruction,” he added.
Court chaos
Mr Odeh stepped up his criticism of the Israeli political class on Tuesday, as the country was gripped by a chaotic court hearing on the appointment of a new head of the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal intelligence agency. The judge overseeing the hearing was forced to halt proceedings following a number of interruptions, including some by ministers from Mr Netanyahu’s party.
Mr Netanyahu’s attempts to appoint a new director of the agency are controversial and critics say they are being carried out improperly. The hearing relates to two petitions challenging the Israeli attorney general’s intervention in the case.
Mr Odeh said the scenes in the courtroom were part of the “same fascist and anti-democratic pattern [repeating] itself”.
“Did you think the despicable impeachment process against me was isolated? This is exactly what a regime coup looks like, and this time, it’s on steroids. Yesterday it was me. Today it’s the court. And tomorrow?”
