Israel's High Court approved a Knesset committee ruling on Tuesday that would prevent MKs from traveling abroad on trips sponsored by organizations that support boycotting Israel, according to a press release.
A petition against the committee, which was submitted in 2018 by Yousef Jabareen, a former MK for Hadash and the Joint List, with support from Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, was ultimately rejected by the court. The issue arose when Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), a Jewish-American organization that supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, attempted to sponsor Jabareen's trip to the United States for a round of lectures.
After receiving information from the Strategic Affairs Ministry regarding JVP's pro-boycott views, the committee rejected Jabareen's request to travel, citing a violation of ethics.
Jabareen and the Adalah Center argued in court that preventing the former MK from traveling to the United States via JVP's funding is a violation of freedom of speech and movement. They also argued that Jabareen's trip does not constitute an ethics violation as it was neither criminal nor illegal in terms of connections to a pro-boycott organization.
In response to the ruling, Jabareen said that "In recent years, the Knesset, which is controlled by a clear right-wing majority, has been trying to narrow the steps of Arab Knesset members in an illegal and undemocratic manner, and it is very unfortunate that the High Court approved these dangerous moves today.
"This ruling expresses the tyranny of a majority that seeks to prevent Arab elected officials from representing their electorate properly," he said. "The fact that there are no similar restrictions in the world only exposes the intensity of the violation of MKs' political freedom."