Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home) spoke in favor Wednesday of a bill promoted by MK Sharon Gal (Yisrael Beytenu) which mandates that politicians who make statements against Israel be barred from running for the Knesset. 

According to Israel’s current law, a potential candidate for the Knesset can only be disqualified for his/her actions against the state, and not his/her statements.

Addressing the Knesset plenum, Shaked cited the incendiary “Martyr’s Day Speech” given by Joint Arab List MK Ahmad Tibi in Ramallah several years ago. 

In the speech, for which he was censured by the Knesset Ethics Committee, Tibi declared that “blessed are the martyrs in side the Green Line, those whom the occupier wants to refer to as terrorists.”

Shakes stressed Wednesday that “this celebration is over. MKs who speak like this should not be able to serve in the Knesset. This story needs to stop. The law must recognize that even statements can inflame terror and undermine Israel’s existence.”

“A terrorist is not just the one who carries out the attack, it is also the one who inflames the masses to carry out attacks,” the Justice Minister stressed. 

The Knesset, however, rejected a preliminary reading of the bill, with 38 MKs voting in favor and 41 opposed.