On Monday, an Israeli parliamentary committee discussed the expulsion of MP Ofer Kassif, after he supported the “genocide” lawsuit filed by South Africa against Israel in the International Court of Justice.

On December 29, South Africa filed a lawsuit before the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of committing “genocide crimes” in the Gaza Strip.

The Knesset Parliamentary Committee heard the legal arguments regarding a proposal signed by 85 members of the Knesset, to expel Representative Cassif from the Knesset, due to his support for South Africa’s request.

Kasif is a Jewish representative in the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality, a joint Arab-Jewish party.

“I signed the petition (in support of South Africa’s lawsuit), which is supposed to be the reason behind this action, based on the same values that have confronted me throughout my political life,” Kasif said in a statement before the committee.

He added that he supported the petition "in order to prevent human suffering against hundreds of thousands of people, out of my belief that only a ceasefire will return the kidnapped people to their homes, and prevent further killing of Israelis and Palestinians."

He continued: "This is why I signed the petition and participated in the demonstrations in the past weeks to demand a ceasefire."

Kassif noted, “I have devoted all of my political and public activity to promoting human values, advancing human rights, promoting the principle of equality and achieving democratic principles and peace.”

He stressed that "freedom and security are for all, for Jews and Arabs, for Israelis and Palestinians, for religious and secular people, for women and men."

In turn, the Israeli newspaper "Haaretz" indicated, on Monday, that "the Knesset is allowed to dismiss Knesset members only in cases of incitement to racism, or support for armed struggle against Israel, and it is not clear whether any of Cassif's statements comply with this definition."

“If the committee approves the request, it will be transferred to the Knesset for a final decision, and a majority of 90 Knesset members will be needed to pass the proposal,” she said.

It continued: "Kasif will have two days from the date of issuance of the decision to appeal to the Supreme Court," without specifying the date of issuance of the decision.

The newspaper quoted the Knesset’s legal advisor, Sagit Afek, as saying: “There is an inherent irony in the request, and the decision restricts the voters who elected an elected official, and limits the scope of freedom of expression.”

However, Oded Forer, a member of the Knesset from the right-wing opposition "Israel Beytenu" party, told the committee that he submitted the request "not only because of Cassif's support for South Africa's request against Israel in The Hague, but also because of his posts on social media alleging that Israel is committing crimes." war".

On January 8, the Hebrew newspaper “Israel Today” said: “The head of the Yisrael Beytenu bloc, Member of the Knesset Oded Forer, collected 70 signatures from members of the Knesset, in order to dismiss Representative Ofer Kassif from the Israeli Knesset.”

Cassif previously said, “The only appropriate way at the present time is to stop the war on the Gaza Strip as soon as possible, conduct a prisoner exchange, withdraw from Gaza, and begin a serious peace process.”

He pointed out "the contradiction in the discourse of the Israeli authorities while they claim not to target civilians in Gaza, they also say that there are no innocents in the Strip."

Cassif became a target of criticism in his country because of his support for the “genocide” lawsuit in Gaza, which South Africa filed against Tel Aviv at the end of last December.

On March 6, 2019, the Central Elections Committee decided to exclude Kassif from running, because of his positions against the occupation, but the Supreme Court (the highest judicial body) rejected the committee’s decision and allowed him to run, and then enter the Knesset.