MK Tally Gotliv (Likud) on Tuesday welcomed the decision of MK Ayman Odeh from the Hadash-Ta’al Party to step down from politics and not run in the next Knesset election.
"Ayman Odeh walked in the Knesset like he owned the place until I came along," Gotliv said. "I reminded him during every speech he made that he supports terrorism and glorifies shaheeds. I yelled at him when he dared to call IDF soldiers murderers, and he was completely silent when I asked him in the plenum why they don't investigate the transfer of funds by him to the Palestinian Authority while he hides behind his parliamentary immunity. Go. This is not your home. It never was."
Odeh announced earlier that he has decided to step away from politics when the 25th Knesset is dissolved.
"Part of the job of a public servant is to know when to take a step back to look at the big picture. That is why today I made one of the hardest decisions of my life: At the end of this term I will not run in the next elections to the Knesset," he announced.
In a video posted on Facebook in the Arabic language, Odeh added, "I have decided to take a responsible position towards our national unity by not running next time. I will try, together with you, to build the broadest unity based on the political plan that brought us to 15 seats, with our collective and true sense of power."
Odeh has often stirred controversy with anti-Israel statements. Last year, he called on young Arabs not to enlist in the "occupation army". Following backlash, he claimed his remarks were mistranslated.
In another incident, Odeh praised Sheikh Raed Salah, the head of the northern faction of the Islamic Movement which was outlawed by the government.
Salah himself was jailed for incitement to terrorism and served a 16-month prison sentence.
He has in the past labeled Israeli leaders “terrorists” and “enemies of Allah” in a speech to Muslims in Be’er Sheva, and was also jailed for five months in 2010 for spitting at an Israeli police officer.