He was called a “terrorist” for holding up an A4 sheet of paper with two words printed on it in bold black letters: Recognise Palestine.
The protest by Ofer Cassif during US President Donald Trump's speech to Israel's parliament on Monday led to him being quickly removed from the Knesset chamber, along with fellow protester and opposition member Ayman Odeh. Mr Cassif says he knew they would be evicted from the historic session, calling it “normal” and a part of the regulations, but that he did not expect such force.
“What wasn't normal was the level of violence we experienced – verbal from the Speaker of parliament, and physical by the ones who took us out,” he told The National. “I never experienced anything like that.”
As a staunch supporter of Palestinian rights for decades, Mr Cassif is no stranger to attacks from his fellow Israelis. The Knesset has suspended him several times, and an attempt to expel him last year fell short by one vote.
He says he felt obliged to do what he did on a day when Mr Trump was making the first visit by a US President to the Knesset in eight years after compelling Israel and Hamas to accept his plan for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Mr Cassif accuses the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of prolonging Palestinian suffering by refusing to accept a truce deal that had been agreed to by Hamas in August, which would have saved the lives of hundreds of Gazans killed since then and possibly those of some of the Israeli hostages held by the militant group.
But he considers the US, Israel's closest ally, to be complicit as well. Mr Trump “not only supported by words when he spoke about cleansing Gaza [of Palestinians] without the possibility of return, but in action when he vetoed the decision by the UN Security Council to stop the genocide,” he said. “That's just the tip of the iceberg.”
In his Knesset speech, Mr Trump congratulated Mr Netanyahu on a “great job” in Gaza, saying the Israeli Prime Minister had won the war in the Palestinian enclave, where nearly 68,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks over two years. Mr Netanyahu reciprocated by calling Mr Trump the “greatest friend” Israel had had in the White House.
Mr Cassif took a dim view of the exchange of compliments. “It was a terrible show of megalomania and flattery, and a grotesque display of cult personality of two criminals,” he said.
Many Israeli opposition leaders, such as former prime minister Ehud Olmert, believe Mr Netanyahu's far-right government is unlikely to survive Israel's next election. Mr Cassif says he wants to be part of the change, but notes that it cannot be done alone.
“We are part of a current that may make a huge change relatively fast, but we need the international community on our side, and civil society,” he said.
