A major turning point was played on Monday afternoon in the Israeli parliamentary committee, which voted in favor of the expulsion of deputy Ayman Odeh. By 14 votes against 2, the commission validated this exceptional procedure, supported by the parties of the coalition as well as by elected officials of Yisrael Beyté, Yesh Atid and the party of national unity.
This decision marks a significant, but non -final step: to be ratified, the expulsion must collect the approval of at least 90 deputies in plenary session, a vote provided within three weeks.
The deputy Avichai Boaron, at the origin of the initiative, justified this approach by the attitude deemed unacceptable of Ayman Odeh. “Throughout the discussions, he did not express any regret, did not withdraw any of his declarations-on the contrary, he repeated them. He refuses to recognize Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations. In this context, his words cannot be dissociated from their political scope, and I am convinced that the Knesset will largely vote in favor of his exclusion,” he said.
The president of the commission, Ofir Katz, for his part made particularly virulent remarks: “In a country worthy of the name, Ayman Odeh would be in prison and deprived of his nationality. I sincerely hope that Yesh Atid and national unity will not return to their position or will not play a double game during the plenary vote. It must be expelled”.
Ayman Odeh, former leader of the unified list which included the far left party Hadash and the Arabic training Ra’am, Ta’al and Balad, figurehead of the Arab political representation in Israel, has not yet reacted to this decision. Its political future now depends on a qualified majority vote within the Knesset, a high threshold, but that its opponents seem determined to reach.
