The Knesset Ethics Committee on Monday suspended Joint Arab List MK Basel Ghattas from parliament and all Knesset committees for a period of six months, following suspicions that he smuggled cell phones to Palestinian security prisoners. The suspension excludes plenum or committee votes, in which Ghattas is allowed to participate. He will also continue to receive his salary during the suspension period. Suspending a lawmaker's wages requires a unanimous Ethics Committee vote. Joint Arab List MK Yousef Jabareen opposed the measure, rendering the committee unable to impose this sanction on Ghattas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the decision, saying, "I welcome the Ethics Committee's decision on MK Ghattas, but in my opinion, it is not enough. Someone who helps and supports terrorist movements cannot continue to be on the Israeli Knesset's payroll. "Unfortunately, this absurdity is made possible thanks to [Yesh Atid leader] Yair Lapid, [Zionist Union head Isaac] Herzog, and [Hatnuah Chairwoman] Tzipi Livni, because they will not give us the few votes that would allow us to dismiss Ghattas from the Knesset. I have already said that I regret this, but I am not surprised. Yair Lapid leads a left-wing party -- it tries to pretend otherwise, but it is a left-wing party that can now take credit for the fact that Basel Ghattas is receiving a monthly salary at the public's expense." Yesh Atid issued a statement saying, "First Herzog calls us a right-wing party and then Netanyahu and his emissaries call us leftist. Enough with this tired trick. First you called [Habayit Hayehudi leader Naftali] Bennett a leftist; then [you called Yisrael Beytenu head Avigdor] Lieberman a leftist; then [you called former Defense Minister Moshe] Ya'alon a leftist; and then [you called] IDF Chief of Staff [Gadi] Eizenkot a leftist. Now Lapid and Yesh Atid are left-wing? Unlike the Likud, we prefer to unite the nation rather than divide it. Together is the only way." Ghattas criticized the Ethics Committee's decision as "vindictive." "This is a vindictive political decision that has never been made against any another MK involved in ongoing criminal proceedings. Before the investigation has even been completed, and before it has been decided whether there is even a place to file an indictment, the members of the Ethics Committee appointed themselves as judges, rendering a ruling and a sentence, even before the suspicions against me have been made clear. Any reasonable person can clearly see that this is not a relevant decision." The Joint Arab List also denounced the decision. "The faction condemns the Ethics Committee's decision to remove Ghattas from Knesset plenum sessions and from committee meetings. This is an unprecedented decision, as the Ethics Committee does not discuss matters of Knesset members facing criminal proceedings, or even a review by the attorney general. In this case, there has been a [sort of] drumhead court-martial."
