Police find grounds to probe Zoabi for inciting against cop

Police officer says Zoabi was part of crowd of angry protesters that met him outside courthouse after he testified.

By LAHAV HARKOV
MK Haneen Zoabi. (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
MK Haneen Zoabi.
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
MK Haneen Zoabi (Balad) should be investigated for criminal incitement to violence, Asst.-Ch. Mani Yitzhaki, head of the Police Investigations and Intelligence Branch, recommended on Wednesday.
On Sunday, a police officer in Nazareth complained that after he testified in court in the city, angry protesters met him outside the courthouse.
One of the protesters was Zoabi, who “shouted offensive terms and called out to those present in a way that could be suspected as insulting a public worker and incitement to violence,” according to police.
Zoabi’s office did not respond to inquiries as to what the MK said to the police officer.
Insp.-Gen. Yohanan Danino instructed the Police Investigations and Intelligence Branch to begin the processes ahead of opening a criminal investigation of the lawmaker.
On Wednesday, Yitzhaki gave the materials his department gathered to the State Attorney’s Office, recommending a criminal investigation against Zoabi.
MKs have parliamentary immunity for actions taken as part of their jobs and can ask the Knesset House Committee for immunity for crimes committed in order to fulfill their jobs, if the Knesset Ethics Committee already dealt with the action or if going to court would harm their ability to do their job and represent their voters.
Deputy Transportation Minister Tzipi Hotovely said the police made the right decision, but it would not yield a conviction.
“Time after time we see how the legal system intervenes and cancels Zoabi and her friends’ disqualification [from running for Knesset] that was decided on in a legal and democratic way,” Hotovely said. “As long as there are not limits to the legal system, Zoabi will continue to undermine the State of Israel as an MK.”