Defiant Palestinian MK Ayman Odeh addresses impeachment hearing in Arabic

Israeli MKs fiercely attacked Palestinian lawmaker Ayman Odeh in a heated Knesset hearing on Tuesday, about the politician's potential impeachment over comments on the war on Gaza.

MK Limor Son Har-Melech of the far-right Jewish Power screamed "terrorist" at Odeh, after the MK defiantly responded to questions from the committee in Arabic, Odeh's native language and also a legally accepted form of communication in Knesset addresses.

MK Tally Gotliv, of the governing Likud Party, also yelled "Don't speak Arabic" at the head of Hadash, a left-wing political alliance strongly supported by Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Odeh slammed the "fascist right" for curtailing free speech in Israel, while a Raam MK, another party with Palestinian support, accused a Jewish Power MK of supporting terrorism.

Jewish Power, known as Otzma Yehudit in Hebrew, has its roots in the Jewish supremacist Kahaneist movement and is the descendant of Kach, a party banned in Israel and proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the US.

The hearing is the first step toward the potential impeachment of Odeh, after allegedly equating Israeli captives held in Gaza with the thousands of Palestinians detained by Israel without charge.

Ayman Odeh said that he was happy with the "hostages and prisoners" following a truce agreement between Israel and Hamas.

"Now we must free both peoples from the yoke of occupation. We were all born free," Odeh posted on X

The comments sparked a petition with 70 MKs calling for Oden to be kicked out of the Knesset, with the Home Committee holding a hearing on Tuesday to determine whether to proceed with the impeachment.

Committee chairman Ofir Katz described Odeh as a security threat in the hearing, a comment which the Hadash MK said could pose a threat to his life.

"While the soldiers are fighting on seven fronts, the eighth front needs to be cleared, and Ayman Odeh is our eighth front," Katz said.

"He is continuously working to weaken the State of Israel, to discredit it, to undermine it and to strengthen its enemies."

"To say that I am the eighth front is incitement to murder," Odeh retorted.

Adalah General Director, Dr. Hassan Jabareen, who is representing Odeh in the hearing, described the proceedings as part of an ongoing campaign to repress the freedoms of Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Adalah described the case against Odeh as illegitimate and that his comments in no way broke the law. 

"While Adalah stresses that the 'Expulsion Law' is illegitimate at its core, even under the law's own provisions, the procedure against MK Ayman Odeh is both procedurally and substantively unfounded," the group said in a statement.

"It fails to meet basic legal standards, targets speech protected by free expression, and amounts to targeted persecution aimed at silencing and discrediting MK Odeh and his positions rejecting the occupation."

No Israeli lawmaker has been impeached, but another Palestinian MK, Ofer Cassif, came closest in 2024 but escaped the sanction on a final vote.

Tuesday's session concluded without a vote, with a second hearing scheduled for Monday.