Parliament passes controversial impeachment law

Israel’s parliament has passed a law that would allow it to impeach an MP who incites racism or supports armed struggle against the state. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the measure ended an “absurd situation” whereby someone who “supports terror” was allowed to serve in the Knesset. But critics said it was anti-democratic and aimed […]

Israel’s parliament has passed a law that would allow it to impeach an MP who incites racism or supports armed struggle against the state.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the measure ended an “absurd situation” whereby someone who “supports terror” was allowed to serve in the Knesset.
But critics said it was anti-democratic and aimed mainly at Israeli Arab MPs.
The law would require three-quarters of the Knesset’s 120 members to vote in favour of any impeachment motion.
The move comes a week after the European Union warned that the Knesset had risked undermining democracy and freedom of speech by approving legislation that requires NGOs receiving most of their funding from abroad to declare so publicly.