Arab Member of Knesset Basel Ghattas. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Israeli Environmental Protection Minister Ze’ev Elkin filed a petition with Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein to begin impeachment proceedings against Arab lawmaker Member of Knesset Basel Ghattas, following Ghattas’s indictment for allegedly smuggling cell phones and other materials to Palestinian security prisoners.

Seventy-one MKs signed the petition, 61 of them from Israel’s governing coalition and 10 from the opposition party Yesh Atid, enough to begin impeachment proceedings. Israel’s Impeachment Law requires the signatures of 70 lawmakers, including 10 from the opposition, to begin the process.

“We are convinced that in [carrying out] these grave acts, MK Ghattas committed the crime of expressing support for the armed struggle of a terrorist organization against Israel,” wrote Elkin, who solicited the signatures.

“Considering the fact that exhausting the criminal proceedings is a long-term process, it is inconceivable that he will continue to serve in the Knesset during this period of time, receiving a salary and taking advantage of his [parliamentary] immunity and status to support terrorism,” he added.