Arab MK Hanin Zoabi Convicted and Fined for Calling Arab Policemen “Traitors”
Nazareth (TPS) – Arab Israeli Member of Knesset Hanin Zoabi was convicted of insulting a public servant and received a suspended sentence of six months in jail and a fine of NIS 3,000 ($770).
MK Zoabi of the Joint List was filmed shouting at Arab policemen outside a court in Nazareth on July 6, 2014 and calling them “traitors.”
Zoabi admitted guilt in the offense in a plea bargain with the Nazareth Magistrates Court on Sunday, February 7 after she gave up her parliamentary immunity in order to avoid a more serious charge of incitement.
According to the indictment, the offense was committed during the trial of Arab rioters following the murder of Mohammed Abu-Khdeir. Abu-Khdeir was murdered by three Jews, two of whom were sentenced last week.
During a court recess, Zoabi started shouting angrily at the Arab policemen who were maintaining order in the area and said they were “traitors” and that action should be taken against them.
She was recorded as saying: “They need to be socially rejected and we should spit at them in the face. We should be cleaning the floor with those who cooperate with our people’s oppressors. We should not shake their hands or let them live among us; they should fear us. They should fear the youth who are arrested based on information they provide. Such audacity to be standing among us.”
According to the indictment, “the accused had hurt and humiliated the policemen with her statements. These were public servants who were simply doing their job and she had even caused them to feel threatened.”
Yisrael Beiteinu Party Chairman MK Avigdor Lieberman deemed the sentence too lenient. “This is another stone placed on the gravestone of Israeli democracy, which does not know how to protect itself against those destroying it from the inside,” he said.
“The current plea bargain, along with previous decisions to avoid putting her on trial for participating in the Marmara flotilla and to allow her to run for Knesset yield a result in which representatives of terror organizations serve in the Knesset,” added Lieberman.
According to the court decision, Zoabi will serve six months in prison and pay a fine of NIS 5,000 ($1,300) if she is convicted again of the same offense of insulting a public servant within the next two years.