Ghattas to Plead Guilty, Two Years Jail Expected

MK Basel Ghattas (Joint List) will resign from the Knesset and plead guilty to charges that he used his parliamentary immunity to smuggle forbidden materials to Palestinian security prisoners incarcerated at Ketziot Prison in December.

An indictment will be filed next week.

According to the terms of a plea bargain Ghattas will be sentenced to two years in prison and an additional suspended sentence to be determined by the court. State prosecutors will also ask the court to fine Ghattas. The State Prosecutor will also ask the court to attach a clause of moral turpitude to the confession, to reflect the seriousness and background of the crimes.

Ghattas will be charged with smuggling mobile phones into a prison, providing materials for a terror attack and bringing documents into the prison without authorization by prison authorities.

Responding to reports of the plea bargain, Ghattas reiterated that he takes full responsibility for his actions, which he said stemmed from personal and humanitarian concerns for the prisoners.

Ghattas also stressed that the indictment that will be filed next week does not include a clause charging the outgoing MK of “striking a blow to national security or its citizens or supporting terrorism.