Religious Zionist Party MK Itamar Ben-Gvir physically resisted ushers’ efforts to remove him from the rostrum of the Knesset plenum on Monday night after he was ordered to leave by Deputy Knesset Speaker Ahmad Tibi (Joint List).
When Ben-Gvir did not begin his speech by formally calling Tibi “honorable speaker,” as Knesset protocol dictates, Tibi, who had been appointed as one of the deputy speakers hours earlier, attempted to stop him from speaking.
Ben-Gvir told Tibi that he was not honorable and that he is a terrorist who belongs in the Syrian parliament. Following Knesset protocol, Tibi responded by giving Ben-Gvir three chances to retract his words but after Ben-Gvir refused to do so, Tibi called on the ushers to remove him from the plenum, although the religious Zionist MK physically fought off the guards and returned to the rostrum.
Ben-Gvir only agreed to leave after Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy (Yesh Atid) came into the plenum and intervened.
Likud MK Keti Shirit accused the ushers of being too physical in removing the defiant MK.
Ben-Gvir asked Levy to fire Tibi and said he would appeal to the Knesset Ethics Committee, which has yet to be formed.
“Ahmad Tibi is a terrorist who did not have the authority to give such directives to the ushers,” Ben-Gvir said.
Labor faction chairman Ram Shefa said Ben-Gvir should be ashamed of himself.
“Your lowly provocations give the Knesset a bad name,” he said.
In response to the incident, the Darkenu movement released a statement, reminding Knesset members that according to a decision of the Knesset Ethics Committee in 2016, use of expressions such as “terrorist,” “murderer” and the like are illegitimate and could lead to sanctions placed against those who use them.
“In view of the above... we ask you to use all the means at your disposal to implement this law with MK Ben-Gvir, and to ensure that this conduct will not be repeated,” the statement said.