Joint Arab List MK Basel Ghattas, who is suspected of smuggling cellular phones, SIM cards and coded messages to security prisoners in Ketziot Prison, will be indicted for alleged fraud, breach of trust, violation of Israel Prison Service directives, receiving illicit benefits, and supporting terrorism. This move comes after the Knesset Ethics Committee suspended Ghattas from all Knesset committees for a period of six months. 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 salary requires a unanimous Ethics Committee vote. Joint Arab List MK Yousef Jabareen opposed the measure, preventing the committee from imposing this sanction on Ghattas. 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 clarified. Any reasonable person can clearly see that this is not a relevant decision," he said Monday.
