A divisive vote in the Knesset plenum on Monday to impeach Hadash-Ta’al MK Ayman Odeh and oust him from the Knesset failed after not receiving the necessary 90 votes, ending a saga that created rifts within both the coalition and opposition.
The vote ended 73-15. Amongst the opposition, the Yisrael Beytenu party supported, as did a number of MKs from Yesh Atid. Contrary to expectations, no MKs from the centrist Blue and White party supported the measure.
The fact that the measure would not pass became increasingly clear throughout the day on Monday, after the haredi United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party announced that it would abstain, and opposition MKs who previously said they would support Odeh’s ouster also backtracked.
Opposition leader MK Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) said he would only support the measure of the coalition had a majority, and Blue and White chairman MK Pnina Tameno-Shete, who voted in favor of the impeachment in the Knesset Home Committee on June 30, said she was “still considering” her vote in the plenum.
The measure, which requires a 90-MK majority, has never passed since the process enabling MKs to impeach their colleague was legislated in 2016. The only other impeachment to reach the plenum was of Hadash-Ta’al MK Ofer Cassif in 2024, but it received 85 votes and failed as well.
Official grounds for impeachment
The official grounds for the impeachment is a post on X by Odeh in January following the announcement of a hostage deal reached between Israel and Hamas in which he wrote, “Happy about the release of hostages and [Palestinian] prisoners, from here both peoples need to be freed from the burden of the occupation, we were born free”.
The law states that an MK may be impeached for "support for an armed struggle by an enemy state or a terrorist organization against the State of Israel." 70 MKs, including at least 10 from the opposition, must sign off on the request to launch proceedings. A “pseudo-judicial” hearing is then held in the Knesset Home Committee, and if approved, it reaches the plenum. If the impeachment receives the necessary votes, Odeh will have the right to appeal to the High Court.
In presenting the measure in the plenum on Monday, Coalition Whip MK Ofir Katz (Likud) said that Odeh “supports and justifies harm to IDF soldiers. Someone who can equate children, women, and elderly people who were kidnapped from their homes, raped, and murdered with vile terrorist murderers has no place in the Israeli Knesset. This man consistently sides with the evil of humanity. Since October 7, Odeh has not once managed to state the simple truth — that Hamas and Hezbollah are terrorist organizations,” Katz said.
“Odeh has never advanced anything for Arab citizens of Israel. They don’t interest him. All he cares about is siding with Israel’s enemies. All he cares about is incitement, provocation, and encouraging terrorism. He doesn’t waver, doesn’t apologize, and doesn’t regret it. That’s his ideology — and he’s proud of it," Katz said.
Odeh said during his speech that he stood for “partnership, equality, and peace” between Israeli Jews and Arabs. He pitted the pro-peace camp against what he called the “fascist camp,” and argued that the former would ultimately be victorious.
Likud MK Avichai Boaron, who initiated the impeachment process, argued in January that the equation of the hostages and Palestinian terrorists, as well as a call to “free the burden of occupation,” constituted a legitimization and call for violence. In January, however, Boaron did not receive the requisite number of signatures.
Ignoring legal advice, Boaron recycled the January petition in June, after Odeh stated at a rally, “After 600 days – there is an overwhelming majority among both peoples saying: If only these 20 months had never happened. This is a historic defeat for the Right, which was defeated in Gaza. Gaza won, and Gaza will win.”
The Knesset’s legal team warned Boaron that in order to add new evidence to the charge against Odeh, he would need to file a new petition, and could not recycle the January petition, which only applied to one post on X. Boaron moved forwards regardless, and received the necessary support. In the two Knesset Home Committee hearings, on June 23 and June 30, Boaron and other coalition MKs rejected the legal advisory and listed a series of statements and actions, including from over a decade ago, as basis for impeachment. Boaron said during the hearing that the impeachment was not just a response to specific statements, but directed against “Odeh as a person and everything he represents.”
UTJ’s decision to abstain came as part of a general boycott of the Knesset plenum due to a delay in a bill to regulate haredi service in the IDF. However, some UTJ MKs were not keen on supporting the impeachment in any case, as they feared it would be used against them in the future, according to a source in the party.
Boaron criticized UTJ ahead of the vote on Monday for backing out.
“The leaders of United Torah Judaism are acting irresponsibly,” Boaron said. “One must not conflate the national imperative to remove from the Knesset an Israel-hater and terror supporter with the need to legislate the Draft Law. By deciding not to support Odeh’s removal, United Torah Judaism is disconnecting itself from the national camp and harming IDF soldiers, bereaved families, and the hostages and their families.”