Expanded Panel of Seven Israeli Supreme Court Justices Hears Petition against Revocation of MK Haneen Zoabi’s Parliamentary Privileges
An expanded panel of seven Israeli Supreme Court justices sat on 5 June 2012 to hear the petition brought by Adalah and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) on behalf of MK Haneen Zoabi (National Democratic Assembly-Balad) against the revocation of MK Zoabi’s parliamentary privileges following her participation in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in May 2010.
Adalah General Director Attorney Hassan Jabareen presented the main legal arguments in the petition before the panel. He emphasized that the Knesset exceeded its authority and powers and contradicted the laws of parliamentary immunity that protect Knesset members’ work to conduct political activities.
The Attorney General claimed before the Court that the Knesset is legally able to revoke an MK’s parliamentary privileges to deter certain actions and prevent their repetition. The Knesset’s legal advisor emphasized that the revocation of MK Zoabi’s parliamentary rights was done in accordance with the legal procedures of the internal Knesset regulations, and that the MK’s participation in the Flotilla did not fall within her parliamentary privileges. Therefore, the revocation of parliamentary privileges is legal.
The petition, prepared by Attorney Hassan Jabareen and Attorney Dan Yakir of ACRI, argued that MK Zoabi’s participation in the Freedom Flotilla was part of her political protest against the continued closure of the Gaza Strip, an expression of her political support for the efforts of the global protest movement to end the closure of Gaza, and an action for humanitarian help for the residents of Gaza. Therefore her participation was a political action that falls within her parliamentary immunity. The rights that were revoked from MK Zoabi include: the right to leave the country in every case and to enter every location in the country, revocation of her diplomatic passport and revocation of her right to recover her judicial expenses.
The petitioners warned that the Knesset's decision not only endangers the status of the Arab minority's representatives in the Knesset but also it legitimizes the racist incitement against Arab citizens of Israel in general. The purpose of parliamentary immunity, which was not considered by the Knesset, is to prohibit such situations.
Case Citation: HCJ 8148/10, Zoabi v. The Knesset (case pending).
Read more:
PRESS RELEASE: “Israeli Supreme Court Orders Knesset to Explain Decision Revoking Parliamentary Privileges of MK Haneen Zoabi,” 27 April 2011
PRESS RELEASE: “Supreme Court Hears Petition against Revocation of MK Haneen Zoabi's Parliamentary Privileges; Critiques AG's Failure to Attend”, 28 March 2011
PRESS RELEASE: Petition to Israeli Supreme Court: the Knesset's Revocation of MK Haneen Zoabi's Parliamentary Privileges is Illegal and must be Cancelled, 7 July 2010
