Israel High Court upholds law to expel elected deputies

The Israeli High Court on Sunday unanimously upheld a law that allows the Knesset to expel an elected member if his actions are said to incite racism, reflect support for armed struggle against the state or for a “terror” organisation.

The court argued that although the law seriously infringes basic rights it contains a system of checks and balances and “it cannot be said that it contradicts the core of the state’s democratic identity”.

In making its decision, the court rejected a petition filed by the Adalah Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and MK, Yousef Jabarin, against the law. They had argued that the law was aimed at targeting Arab Members of the Knesset who support the rights of the indigenous Palestinian population against Israel’s illegal crackdown.

The Knesset approved the amendment after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked the attorney general to amend the basic law in response to a visit by Arab MKs Haneen Zoabi, Bassem Ghattas and Jamal Zahalka to the families of Palestinians killed in Jerusalem.

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Adalah and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel issued a joint statement saying the court has failed to fulfill its duty as the defender of minority rights.

“The High Court has put human rights under the authority of the majority, which seeks to exclude Arab legislators from the Knesset,” it said.