The Knesset Ethics Committee has decided to suspend Labor MK Yoram Marciano from participation in all sessions of the Knesset plenum and committee meetings until the end of the current winter session.  The last Knesset session before the Passover recess begins will be next Wednesday, March 21.



Arutz-7 has learned that MK Marciano will continue to receive his salary, however. A spokesperson for the Ethics Committee explained that Marciano must still take part in votes in both the plenum and committee sessions.



Marciano himself turned to the Ethics Committee and asked to be punished, following an incident two weeks ago in a Herzliya bar in which got drunk, kissed and hugged an employee, and became involved in an altercation with guards. The committee ruled that he in fact had "struck a great blow at the honor of the Knesset and at his status and obligations as a Knesset Member."



The four-member Ethics Committee is chaired by MK Chaim Oron (Meretz), and its members are Ami Ayalon (Labor), Amira Dotan (Kadima), and Ruby Rivlin (Likud).



The committee is permitted to withhold a Knesset Member's salary only following a consistent and protracted absence from Knesset sittings without a justified reason, the engagement in business outside of the Knesset, or serving in a public position during tenure as an MK.

Two weeks ago, the Ethics Committee registered a "remark" against Deputy Knesset Speaker MK Ahmed Tibi for having removed three right-wing MKs from the plenum without sufficient cause.  In the same session, the committee ruled that MKs may not receive mileage points for their official trips, unless they paid for the trips out of their own pocket.

MK Avital Running for Knesset - at Expense of Shimon Peres

In other Knesset news, Labor MK Avital Collette has formally announced her candidacy for the Presidency of Israel. Her speech today was laced with veiled criticism of her former mentor, Shimon Peres, who is likely to run for the job himself.

Avital said that Peres "betrayed" the Labor Party when he quit it last year to join Kadima, and that Israel needs a President who can "serve a full term" - a jab at Peres' age, 84. She further said that she does not view the Presidency as a "consolation prize;" many have said that Peres deserves to be President in light of all he has done for the country and because of the many elections he has lost.

MK Ruby Rivlin of the Likud is also running for President. The secret-ballot election will be held among the 120 Knesset Members in July.