The Knesset expels a member of parliament for calling for the prosecution of "Israeli criminals."

An Israeli parliamentary committee decided on Wednesday to suspend Democratic Front for Peace (DFP) MK Ofer Cassif from Knesset sessions for two months after he called on the International Criminal Court to prosecute senior Israeli officials for war crimes.

The official Israeli Broadcasting Corporation said: "The Knesset Ethics Committee decided to suspend Hadash MK Ofer Cassif from Knesset sessions for two months and deprive him of his salary for two weeks."

She explained that the decision came "following several statements he made, including a call by the International Criminal Court to prosecute senior Israeli officials for allegedly committing war crimes."

She added, "The deportation order will take effect with the start of the Knesset's winter session, in about three months."

The Knesset will go on summer vacation from the end of July until next October.

On November 21, 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians in Gaza.

Commenting on his expulsion, Kassif said in a statement, "The Ethics Committee's decision to expel me again from the Knesset comes just days before the vote to remove my fellow MK Ayman Odeh."

He considered what was happening "part of the campaign of persecution and attempts to silence the voices revealing the truth about the war crimes in Gaza."

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a war of genocide in Gaza, including killing, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement, ignoring all international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt it.

The US-backed genocide left more than 195,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing. Hundreds of thousands were displaced, and a famine claimed the lives of many, including dozens of children.

Kassif added, "This is a dictatorship par excellence, aiming to prevent us from raising our voices for the democracy and healthy society we aspire to... a society that is liberated, pro-life, equal, and free from killing, destruction, and death."

He continued, "This fascist decision does not affect me personally, but rather affects our list's ability to work for the public, especially our voters and the values upon which we were elected."

He continued, "It also clearly demonstrates how the Ethics Committee has become a tool for political bickering in the service of the bloodthirsty government, which neglects the kidnapped, sacrifices soldiers, and kills Palestinians."

He emphasized that "fascism in Israel, genocide in Gaza, and occupation and ethnic cleansing in the occupied West Bank—all of these things are interconnected and together form a terrifying mosaic of a despicable terrorist regime."

In parallel with the war of extermination in Gaza, the Israeli army and settlers have escalated their attacks in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, resulting in the deaths of at least 993 Palestinians and the injury of approximately 7,000 others, according to official Palestinian data.

Kassif Zad: "We will never surrender and we will not be silent. We will continue to raise our voice, Jews and Arabs in true partnership, against all war criminals."

"Enough with the genocide and ethnic cleansing. Go for an agreement now," he added, for a prisoner exchange and a ceasefire in Gaza.

The same parliamentary committee had previously decided to suspend Kassif from the Knesset for six months in November 2024, and he returned to the Knesset in May 2025.

At the time, Kassif said the decision to suspend him from the Knesset was due to his "political statements against the occupation, ethnic cleansing, war crimes, and actual genocide being carried out by the Israeli government in Gaza."

Kassif was born on December 25, 1964, in Rishon LeZion (central Israel). He holds a PhD in political philosophy and is known for his opposition to the Israeli occupation. He was elected to the Knesset for the first time in 2019.

For decades, Israel has occupied Palestine and territories in Syria and Lebanon, and refuses to withdraw from these territories and establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, along the pre-1967 borders.