Knesset Home Committee debates expulsion of MK Cassif

The Knesset House Committee on Monday deliberated whether to expel Hadash-Ta’al MK Ofer Cassif over his support of South Africa’s accusation in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

Committee chairman Ofir Katz (Likud) convened the session after a petition to expel Cassif spearheaded by Yisrael Beytenu MK Oded Forer received 85 signatures, above the necessary 70, including more than 10 from the opposition parties Yisrael Beytenu and Yesh Atid.

The petition Cassif signed said: “Israel is indeed taking methodological and fundamental steps to erase, starve, abuse, and expel the population of Gaza. It actualizes a policy of erasing possibilities of living, which leads to genocide. It methodologically kills broad swaths of the population, leading academics, authors, doctors, medical teams, journalists, and simple citizens.”

Cassif signed petition accusing Israel of genocidal actions in Gaza 

According to Basic Law: The Knesset, impeachment proceedings may be initiated against an MK if he either “incited to racism” or “supported armed struggle, by an enemy state or terrorist organization, against the State of Israel.”

Knesset legal adviser Sagit Afek said Cassif could only be expelled for actions committed during the current Knesset but not past actions or statements. In addition, there must be “clear and evident” evidence that Cassif “actively supported” the armed struggle against Israel, she said.

The nature of the discussion was judiciary, and the committee members had to be impartial and not take into account political considerations, Afek said.

Forer said signing the petition qualified as support of armed struggle against the State of Israel. Had South Africa’s appeal been accepted, he said, Israel would have been forced to cease the war in Gaza, thereby helping the arm struggle against Israel.

Attorney Michael Sfard said Cassif’s opposition to the war did not mean he supported Hamas’s armed struggle. That claim would create a slippery slope, he added.

Sfard cited many quotes by his client since the war began on October 7, denouncing Hamas’s attack, calling it “satanic,” and condemning the “carnage.” This proved that Cassif did not support Hamas, he said, adding that 14 MKs or ministers were quoted by South Africa as aiding their case, and all of them were from the coalition.

Furthermore, the claim that Cassif, who belongs to the communist Hadash faction, supported religious fundamentalists was absurd, Sfard said.

Likud MK Hanoch Milwidsky repeatedly interrupted Sfard. Cassif was an “enemy of Israel,” he said, adding that the Knesset would expel all “enemies of the state.”

Cassif said he signed South Africa’s petition to the ICJ because he wants to end human suffering and pain by ending the war and bringing home the hostages and not out of support for Hamas. The committee meeting was “Orwellian,” he said, and the coalition was beginning a process whose end would be the impeachment of any MK who opposed the government.

Cassif had previously said he felt it was his constitutional duty to support South Africa.

“I will not give up the struggle for our existence as a moral society,” he said. “That is true patriotism – not wars of revenge and calls for destruction, not unnecessary bloodshed, and not the sacrifice of civilians and soldiers in futile wars.”

The committee’s deliberations were scheduled to continue on Tuesday.

To proceed to a vote in the Knesset plenum, at least three-quarters of the committee members must vote in favor of Cassif’s expulsion. The committee has 17 members, so 13 must support the measure for it to pass. At least 90 MKs must then support his expulsion in the plenum. If expelled, Cassif will have the right to appeal the decision to the High Court of Justice.

To vote on the committee, members must attend every meeting on the issue and must be present for at least 50% of the time during the meetings.

The Knesset has never before expelled an MK. The closest it came was a debate over former Balad MK Basel Ghattas, who resigned from the Knesset after being convicted of providing convicted Palestinian terrorists with cellphones and SIM cards.

The question of impeachment drew international attention. In a letter sent last week to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrel, a group of 17 members of the European Parliament (MEP) petitioned for the EU to oppose the impeachment.

Cassif has been an activist for many years on behalf of peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians in line with EU policy, the MEPs said. His expulsion would open a “Pandora’s box” of possible expulsions from the Knesset for having dissenting views on the conflict, they said.

Yuval Barnea contributed to this report.