Former Arab Knesset member investigated for incitement to terror

Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit approved the investigation.

By Aryeh Savir, TPS

Former Member of Knesset (MK) Heba Yazbak of the Arab-majority Joint List was questioned by the police on Monday on suspicion of incitement to terrorism.

Yazbak is being investigated by the Lahav 433 Unit on suspicion of incitement and support for terrorism, following videos and messages she posted on social media in which she shared praise and support for terrorists and terrorist organizations.

Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit approved the investigation.

Yazbak has shared posts on social networks that included content encouraging and supporting terrorists, including those who murdered children.

For instance, in May 2015, Yazbak shared a photo of Samir Kuntar and praised him as a “martyred warrior” who died while waging Jihad.

Kuntar carried out one of the most gruesome terrorist attacks in Israeli history. In 1979, he infiltrated northern Israel by boat with three other members of the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF). The group killed a police officer in Nahariya before breaking into the home of the Haran family and taking hostage 31-year-old Danny Haran and his four-year-old daughter Einat.

According to the official account, Kuntar shot the father in the back, then beat the daughter to death while retreating to the beach.

Haran’s wife, who quickly hid, accidentally smothered her younger daughter to death while trying to prevent her from crying out and giving away their hiding spot.

In 2013, Yazbak posted a picture of the terrorist Dalal al-Mughrabi, who participated in the 1978 Coastal Road Massacre in which 38 Israeli civilians were murdered, including 13 children.

Yazbak served as an MK in the Israeli parliament during 2019-2020. She was elected to the 23rd Knesset after the High Court of Justice approved her candidacy and reversed the decision of the Knesset’s Election Committee, which had blocked her from running following her explicit support for terrorism.

World Israel News contributed to this report.