Arab lawmaker who struck Religious Zionist MK says he’d do it again

Asked by an Army Radio reporter whether he would do it again, the chairman of the Arab Joint List party replied: “Yes.”

By World Israel News Staff

Interviewed by Galei Tzahal – IDF Radio – Thursday morning regarding his physical assault on fellow lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir last week, opposition MK Ayman Odeh said he would do it again, Arutz-7 reported.

Last Tuesday, Ben Gvir of the Religious Zionist party went to see Hamas operative Miqdad Qawasmeh, who was admitted to Kaplan Hospital in Rehovot due to a hunger strike, in order to confront him.

As Ben-Gvir explained on Twitter, he wanted to check how after months without food, Qawasmeh was “miraculously” still alive.

Odeh, who was visiting the Hamas patient in a show of support, was enraged by Ben-Gvir’s appearance at the entrance of Qawasmeh’s room and struck the Religious Zionist MK.

“I arrived at Kaplan Medical Center to understand how the terrorist Qawasmeh receives conditions and respect fit for a king, and how after 90 days of fasting he is still not dead,” Ben Gvir wrote on Twitter after the incident.

“And who came to defend him and attack me? Of course, Ayman Odeh.”

According to Arutz-7, Ben Gvir said — in reaction to Odeh’s lack of regret over the assault: “The terrorist Ayman Odeh is still proud of raising his hands against me – even while he pretends to speak out against crime and violence in the Arab sector. And when he was asked if he would do it again, he says yes, he would.

“Where are the Israeli police who have yet to investigate him? Where is [Attorney-General] Avichai Mandelblit? Where has he disappeared?”

Furthermore, Ben-Gvir warned, “MK Odeh is a supporter of terrorism and a danger to the public. He is a ticking time-bomb. Today it’s me, but tomorrow it could be you.”