Ofer Cassif

Last updated

2019

My constitutional duty is to Israeli society and all of its residents, not to a government whose members and its coalition are calling for ethnic cleansing and even actual genocide. They are the ones who hurt the country and the people, they are the ones who led South Africa to turn to The Hague, not me and my friends. [18]

Ofer Cassif in a demonstration in At-Tuwani, October 2021. Ofer Cassif in A Tuwani.jpg
Ofer Cassif in a demonstration in At-Tuwani, October 2021.

In response to his comments, 85 members of the 120 members of the Knesset signed a petition to expel Cassif from parliament, [19] accusing him of treason. [20] The measure was brought to a vote on 19 February 2024, with Cassif narrowly avoiding expulsion. [21]

In November 2024, the Knesset Ethics Committee voted unanimously to suspend Cassif for six months from plenary and committee meetings, allowing participation only in voting, a penalty considered one of the most severe sanctions in several years. Cassif had signed a petition calling to indict the State of Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, was alleged to have previously in a tweet called Palestinians fighting the IDF in Jenin "freedom fighters", and publicly accused Israeli politicians of advocating for crimes against humanity against Palestinians. [22] [23] [24]

Cassif was suspended for two months, from 19 October 2025 until 19 December 2025, by the Knesset Ethics Committee in July 2025. [25]

Personal life

Cassif is Jewish. He is married and has one son. He lives in Rehovot. [26]

References

  1. 1 2 "Members of the 25th Knesset". Knesset. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  2. Lis, Jonathan (7 March 2019). "Israeli Arab Slate, Far-left Candidate Banned From Election Hours After Kahanist Leader Allowed to Run". Haaretz . Archived from the original on 25 October 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 Itiel, Yoav (7 March 2019). ""גאה להיות קיצוני": לוחם הנח"ל שמתנגד לציונות ונפסל מריצה לכנסת - וואלה! בחירות 2022" ["Proud to be an extremist": the Nahal fighter who opposes Zionism and was disqualified from running for the Knesset]. Walla (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Hecht, Ravit (16 February 2019). "The Knesset Candidate Who Says Zionism Encourages anti-Semitism and Calls Netanyahu 'Arch-murderer'". Haaretz . Archived from the original on 1 September 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  5. Ofer Cassif; Stephanie Van Hook; Lynn Gottlieb; Ela Gandhi; Michael N. Nagler; Mubarak Awad (1 April 2024), Against genocide: A conversation with Ofer Cassif, Metta Center for Nonviolence, Wikidata   Q125559918
  6. Cassif, Ofer (2006). On nationalism and democracy: A Marxist examination (PhD). London School of Economics and Political Science. Archived from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  7. "Ofer Cassif". ofercassif.academia.edu. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  8. Itiel, Yoav (1 February 2019). "מועצת חד"ש בחרה: איימן עודה יעמוד בראש המפלגה בבחירות לכנסת". Walla (in Hebrew). Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  9. Winer, Stuart (7 March 2019). "Elections panel bars Arab slate, Jewish far-left candidate; court will now rule". The Times of Israel . Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  10. Burger, Yotam (17 March 2019). "Israel's Top Court Bans Kahanist Leader From Election Run, Okays Arab Slates, Far-left Candidate". Haaretz . Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  11. "Outcry as police beat Joint List lawmaker during East Jerusalem protest". The Times of Israel . Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
  12. "Video shows police beating Israeli politician in Jerusalem". Al Jazeera . Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  13. "Ofer Cassif summoned for investigation after violent incident with cop". JPost.com . 2 August 2022. Archived from the original on 21 November 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  14. Levy, Gideon (18 April 2021). "Ofer Cassif, A Very Important Person". Haaretz . Archived from the original on 21 November 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  15. Freedman, Eliyahu (7 October 2023). "Israeli lawmaker blames pogroms against Palestinians for "terrible" attacks". Al Jazeera . Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  16. "Israel police boss threatens to send anti-war protesters to Gaza "on buses"". Al Jazeera . 19 October 2023. Archived from the original on 9 November 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  17. "Israeli far-left lawmaker joins Gaza genocide lawsuit at ICJ". JPost.com . 7 January 2024.
  18. Cassif, Ofer. "My constitutional duty is to Israeli society". Twitter . Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  19. Shpigel, Noa (9 January 2024). "70 Israeli Lawmakers Sign Motion to Expel MK for Supporting ICJ Genocide Charges". Haaretz . Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  20. Silkoff, Shira; Sokol, Sam (10 January 2024). "85 lawmakers sign petition to expel far-left MK who accused Israel of genocide". The Times of Israel . Retrieved 30 January 2024.
  21. Shpigel, Noa (19 February 2024). "Knesset Narrowly Votes Against Expelling Left-wing Lawmaker for His Support of ICJ Genocide Case Against Israel". Haaretz . Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  22. Shpigel, Noa (12 November 2024). "Left-wing MK Banned From Knesset Floor for Six Months Following Complaints Against Him". Haaretz.com. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
  23. Sokol, Sam (11 November 2024). "Knesset suspends far-left MK Ofer Cassif for six months over comments on Gaza war". The Times of Israel.
  24. Cassif, Ofer (29 November 2024). "I was suspended from Israel's Knesset for highlighting the tyranny of Netanyahu. Help us to oppose him". the Guardian. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
  25. Sokol, Sam; Writer, Staff (9 July 2025). "Knesset panel suspends Hadash-Ta'al MK Cassif for two months over wartime criticism". The Times of Israel.
  26. Oz, Sheri (31 October 2022). "Interview: The Jewish MK in the Arab party, Hadash, Ofer Cassif". Israel National News . Retrieved 17 December 2023.
Ofer Cassif
Ofer Cassif.png
Cassif in 2021
Faction represented in the Knesset Hadash