Ramallah: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given his support to a bill which would allow the Israeli parliament to expel any member who expresses support for armed resistance against the regime.

The bill is seen as a response to the Arab Balad MP Haneen Zoabi whose statements have infuriated the Israeli government, the Times of Israel reported on Tuesday.

The bill states that “a [member of the Knesset] who in a time of war or military action against an enemy state or terror organisation offers public support for the military struggle against the State of Israel, their term in the Knesset shall be terminated on the day the Knesset decides by a majority of its members and at the recommendation of the Knesset House Committee that the published comments constitute the aforementioned expressions of support.”

Haneen expressed support for Hamas during the recent Israeli war on the Gaza Strip that left more than 2,000 Palestinians dead, mostly civilians. She also refused to term the kidnapping of three Israeli colonist teenagers as “terrorism.” It was subsequently found that the boys had been murdered and Haneen then termed this terrorism.

While the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, the cabinet committee that determines government support for bills presented to parliament, refused to support the bill on Sunday — maintaining that as part of the executive branch of government it should not been seen to influence decisions about how the legislative branch of government is run, the Israeli Prime Minister gave it qualified support in a Monday meeting of his Likud party.

Benjamin Netanyahu insisted the bill be altered to make it more difficult to enact an expulsion. Under the changes, a majority of Knesset members (61) would have to support an expulsion for it to pass.

‘Hostile act’

Haneen’s response to the bill in Haaretz: “No parliament that expels its members has a right to speak in the name of democracy. This is a hostile act against my constituency and against every democrat in the country. This is an insane bill that will allow coalition members of Knesset to strip the [Palestinian] minority of parliamentary representation.”

Palestinians with Israeli citizenship are those who were not expelled when the Israeli regime was established in Palestine in 1948. They are allowed to participate in politics but complain of significant discrimination.

Two Palestinian members of the Knesset were thrown out of the chamber during the Monday evening parliamentary sitting.

During a debate about a no-confidence motion, the acting Speaker Moshe Feiglin who is known to be the leader to raid Al Haram Al Sharif, ordered Jamal Zahalqa (Balad) and Mohammad Baraka (Hadash) to leave the sitting.

The first eviction was Hadash MK Mohammad Baraka who, it has been claimed, yelled “You should be suffocated” at the acting speaker.

The Balad Palestinian MP, Jamal Zahalka, was later removed by force from the chamber after he called the Likud faction acting speaker a fascist.

Meanwhile, Israeli police announced on Monday the arrest of a Palestinian resident of the old city for posting images and footage the police termed incitement.

The files in questions are alleged to encourage acts of violence against Israeli security forces and Israeli citizens.

32-year-old Mahmoud Asila is alleged to have posted images and video on his Facebook page which praised Ebrahim Al Akri of Shuafat who drove his car into a group of people on November 5, killing a police officer.

He also posted an image of the bus driver Yousuf Hassan Al Ramouni whose body was found hanged in the bus he drove. Al Ramouni’s death is widely regarded by Palestinians as murder, and the image bears a comment from Asila — “May you have the blessing of paradise/ the sons of Dogs have hanged you.”

The Israeli news site the Ynet reported that Israeli Police also learned that Asila threatened a 16-year-old cousin of Member of the Knesset Haneen Zoabi because of the younger man’s support for Israel and his published calls for the release of the three Israeli teenagers who were kidnapped and later killed.

According to police, Asila defended his online actions as part of “freedom of speech.”