On November 11, 2024, the Knesset Ethics Committee decided to suspend MK Ofer Cassif from Knesset sessions and committee meetings for six months. Additionally, it imposed a two-week salary suspension. This is the most severe punishment ever imposed by the Committee on a Member of Knesset. The decision followed statements by MK Cassif accusing the State of Israel and the IDF of committing serious crimes during the ongoing war and expressing support for international legal proceedings on these matters. The Ethics Committee concluded that these statements constituted “a grave breach of ethical standards, significantly undermining the MK’s duty of loyalty to promote the interests of the state.”
The Forum of Law Professors for Democracy believes that the Ethics Committee’s decision is legally flawed. An MK’s claim that a governmental body acted unlawfully, even if such a claim is incorrect, is protected under the fundamental right to freedom of expression afforded to everyone, and especially to elected officials. The appropriate response to an MK’s allegation of war crimes by the IDF is a substantive rebuttal, not punitive action. Penalizing an MK for accusing Israel of war crimes—particularly with such an extreme sanction—aligns Israel with non-democratic regimes where criticism of the government during wartime is prohibited.
Moreover, the Ethics Committee's decision regarding MK Cassif is wrong because it reflects selective enforcement of ethical standards. The ethical guidelines state that “a Member of Knesset shall fulfill their role in loyalty to the foundational values of the State of Israel.” Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, several MKs have called for indiscriminate harm to Palestinian civilians in Gaza, statements that contradict Israel's foundational values. The Ethics Committee's decision to act against MK Cassif’s remarks, while ignoring calls by other MKs advocating actions that constitute war crimes, demonstrates discriminatory enforcement, rendering the Committee's decision unlawful.
The Forum calls on the Knesset to overturn the Ethics Committee's decision regarding MK Cassif and to safeguard the freedom of expression of all MKs, including their right to criticize government policies, whether such criticism is justified or mistaken.
Comments