No charges after Arab Knesset member appears to support Hezbollah in video

Odeh failed to mention that the Lebanese “struggle” was supported and executed by terror group Hezbollah, who carried out numerous attacks against Israeli civilians.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit declined to indict Joint List MK Ayman Odeh on charges of supporting terror, Channel 20 reported Wednesday.

Rebel Yamina MK Amichai Chikli and lawyer Michael Litvak, head of the B’tselmo watchdog group, requested that Mandelblit open a probe against Odeh after a video of him advocating for Palestinian “resistance” against Israel went viral.

In the video, Odeh is seen speaking to his constituents on social media about the Palestinian struggle in Arabic, explaining the methods that will “cause the occupation to end.”

He cited the importance of massive street protests to put pressure on the Israeli government and raise international attention.

Odeh appeared to praise the Lebanese “struggle” against Israel, saying that if the Lebanese had not engaged in “struggle” against the Israelis, the massive civil protests that took place against the presence of Israeli troops in Lebanon, and eventually led to the withdrawal of the troops, would have never happened.

However, Odeh did not mention that the Lebanese “struggle” was supported and executed by terror group Hezbollah, who carried out numerous attacks against Israeli civilians.

Chikli posted the video of Odeh on his Facebook page, adding a caption which read, “Let’s call this for what it is. Ayman Odeh and the members of the Joint List are enemies of the State of Israel, and their place is in prison and not in the Knesset.

“No sane country can accept a call for a violent uprising and the hoisting of enemy flags without a crushing response. Remove [their parliamentary] immunity and [launch] a criminal investigation for treason and incitement now!”

In their letter to Mandelblit, Chikli and Litvak wrote that “there is no doubt…that this is both a violation of the Terrorism Law in glorifying Hezbollah’s acts of terrorism, and an incitement to violence as it explicitly calls on its listeners to follow Hezbollah’s paths and murder and kidnap soldiers and citizens.

“The word ‘resistance’ can not be interpreted in a non-violent way, in light of the explicitly mentioned background examples.”

Amichai ChikliArab Joint ListAvichai MandelblitAyman OdehHezbollah