A parliamentary commission of the Israeli Knesset (parliament) is discussing the question of divesting the Arab Knesset members who recently travelled to Libya after an official invitation to visit the country. The Knesset move was prompted by a request from the right-wing deputy, Mikhail Ben-Ari, of the National Union Party; Arab MPs boycotted the meeting.
The head of the commission, Yariv Levin, a Likud MP, said, “The behaviour of the Arab Knesset members constitutes a degree of contempt for parliament and a failure to assume their duties as public figures.”
However, the Leader of the Knesset, Ruffin Rivlin, has expressed opposition to the proposed divestiture under the law of parliamentary immunity, saying, “The power to consider whether members of the Knesset have committed criminal offences does not fall within the purview of the Knesset commission; it is the jurisdiction of the government’s legal chancellor.”
Source: Quds Press