Right-wing lawmaker Itamar Ben Gvir was almost attacked during a contentious Wednesday night vote on his proposal to implement the death penalty for terrorists.
By World Israel News Staff
Right-wing lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir (Religious Zionism) was nearly physically attacked by lawmakers from the anti-Zionist Arab Joint List party during a contentious Wednesday night vote on his proposal to implement the death penalty for terrorists.
Ben-Gvir’s bill, which was co-sponsored by MK May Golan of Likud, proposed that the government execute terrorists found guilty of killing an Israeli citizen due to nationalistic or Islamic motives.
Video from the scene shows Joint List MKs Ahmad Tibi and Osama Saadi aggressively charging at Ben-Gvir in the Knesset plenum.
Chaos breaks out, with Ben-Gvir shouting at the two men not to touch him, and he is heard repeatedly calling them terrorists.
A Knesset usher is seen physically holding Tibi back from approaching Ben Gvir.
The two men scream insults at each other, with Tibi calling Ben-Gvir a “neo-Nazi.”
Ben Gvir responds that Tibi is a kelb, Arabic for dog.
After repeatedly asking the two men to stop shouting, Deputy Knesset Speaker David Bitan (Likud) ejected them both from the plenum.
The death penalty bill failed to pass, with 33 MKs voting in favor and 52 voting against.
“We will not forgive or forget,” Ben-Gvir said after the vote.
“Members of the Knesset who voted against the death penalty for terrorists law, the citizens of Israel will not forgive you for harming security and the war on terror. You should be ashamed of yourselves.”
Wednesday night’s incident is the latest in a number of confrontations between Ben-Gvir and Joint List lawmakers.
In February 2022, party chair Ayman Odeh physically scuffled with Ben-Gvir in a hospital, where a convicted terrorist was hospitalized.
Odeh was later summoned for police questioning after the incident.