In November, Cassif was suspended from the Knesset for six months over comments he made about the Israeli army war in Gaza. Under the terms of his suspension, Cassif is not allowed to enter the Knesset plenum or committee meetings except to vote.
“There are attempts to silence us and to pursue and to create an atmosphere of chilling effect to terrorize us. There are attempts, again, to silence us, to prevent us from raising our political voice. We were not elected to represent those who disagree with us. It’s our right and obligation to represent as firmly as possible our values for which we were elected. Since October 7, people have been arrested because of tweets [in which] they simply expressed sympathy for the children of Gaza, not for Hamas, perish the thought…There’s a fascist atmosphere,” Cassif said to The Times of Israel. Above excerpts from the interview.
There has also been an effort to collect signatures to impeach the leader of your party, MK Ayman Odeh after he said he was “happy for the release of the hostages and prisoners” as part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
“I think it was not only legitimate what Ayman said, it was required. What did he say? He said he was happy to see people released. That’s basic humanism. That’s a very humanistic statement. He was talking after 90 Palestinian prisoners were released, and most of them were hostages because they were so-called administrative detainees who were not accused of anything, mostly women and underage [people]. The only one who was convicted of supporting terrorism among members of the Knesset is [Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar] Ben Gvir. We’ve never supported terrorism, neither me nor my comrades and friends. That’s a sheer lie and smear.”
In a post in X, Cassif shared a picture of Jews lined up outside an emigration office in Vienna under the Nazi regime in 1938, writing that “this month, exactly 86 years ago, the ‘Central Bureau for Jewish Emigration’ was established in Berlin with the aim of encouraging voluntary emigration of German Jews.” Cassif is a vocal opponent of US President Donald Trump’s plan for postwar Gaza, embraced by most Israeli political leaders to forcibly displacement of the Palestinians living in the largely destroyed coastal occupied territory.
Do you believe that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza?
“Yes…and many experts in the world say so. It’s not a political slogan…The conclusion is very clear. One need not be a leftist like me. It’s very clear those who want to deny it, they lie, or they want to simply evade the difficulties.”
You recently tweeted that “even if we have to blow up the bridges, there will be no mass deportation by force.” Are you saying you would use physical violence?
“I support non-violent resistance across the board, and I will cling to that. If, hypothetically, there is a violent action by the state, so violent action against is a must throughout history.”
The full interview published by The Times of Israel:
maki.org.il
