Regarding Miri Regev

If MK Miri Regev (Likud-Beytenu) had reviewed the protocols and guidelines in the Knesset regulations manual, the book of all books for MKs, she would have never allowed herself to behave the way she did last week during a session of the Internal Affairs and Environment Committee. Although Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein said on Monday that Regev's behavior was not improper, the storm over the meeting did not manifest from nothing -- even the Knesset's legal advisor said his opinion differed from Edelstein's.

It's no secret that parliamentary committee chairmen have a lot of power. They decide which issues to raise for discussion, how much time should be allocated to each subject and which guests should be invited to meetings. They also have the authority to expel MKs, but Knesset regulations explicitly state the exact circumstances necessary for the chairperson to take such drastic measures.

Regev, who assumed the role of Internal Affairs Committee chairwoman with gravitas and has facilitated several very important discussions, made a serious misstep, in my opinion, even if she hadn't bothered to review Knesset regulations. Deciding to hold a discussion on the working relationships between the heads of local authorities and their senior staff while only summoning one of her close political allies, Nazareth Illit Mayor Shimon Gapso, was a mistake.

The second error she made was turning the discussion, meant to touch on the fundamental and important issue of the difficulties inherent in the relationships between mayors and their senior staff, into a meeting about the problematic work relationship between Gapso and his chief legal counsel, Olga Gordon, which has nothing to do with the Internal Affairs Committee anyway. Third, she erred in inviting Gapso, who, while he was indeed re-elected, was still dealing with an indictment over criminal charges handed down by the attorney-general.

The haste with which she ordered three MKs to leave the discussion was the fourth blunder Regev committed. First, she expelled MK Micky Rosenthal (Labor) after he asked Regev to end the discussion, lambasting her over the decision to invite Gapso. Following Rosenthal, MK Mohammad Barakeh (Hadash) was kicked out of the room for similar comments and for saying that Regev's behavior was making a mockery of the Knesset. Finally, MK Tamar Zandberg (Meretz) was thrown out after she too could not restrain herself from criticizing the committee chairwoman.

I should emphasize that, according to Knesset regulations, committee chairmen have the authority to expel MKs from discussions. But this can only be done in exceptional cases, such as when an MK behaves in a way that contradicts standard protocols. From the Knesset regulations, MKs must "speak properly, use the accepted language in a way that maintains dignity in the Knesset, not acting to disrespect the Knesset, any of its members or order within the committee."

The MKs who were given the boot from the conference hall spoke, in my opinion, in an appropriate way using acceptable language. In my many years as a parliamentary correspondent, I have never seen a committee chairperson so cynically exploit his or her authority, throwing MKs out of the room. We should hope Regev is going to reflect on her lesson.