Member of Knesset Ayman Odeh (Joint List) has responded to the decision of the Ethics Committee to suspend him for a week from Knesset deliberations by saying, "Instead of protecting Knesset members' immunity and their proper work, the Ethics Committee was dragged today after the heated debate and joined the trend of silencing and stifling that is taking over the Knesset."
Odeh was banned because of complaints of abusive language directed against police when he went to visit a hospitalized protester from a violent Gaza solidarity rally who claims he was beaten by police during the course of his arrest. He also said, "I will continue to do my work as a public official and demand my right to visit every wounded person, certainly if he is beaten by the police."