Right-wing activist Ayelet Lash was summoned for a hearing at the Civil Service Commission this week over tweets she posted against Arab terrorism.
According to the Commission, Lash, who works as a teacher, published statements of racism and incitement against Arabs and against former Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg (Meretz) in three different tweets during the year 2021. She has previously been summoned for hearings over her tweets, and those cases against her were closed.
After the hearing, Lash was called for questioning at the Commission's offices. To her surprise, despite the closing of the case against her by the prosecutor's office, the Commision's investigator presented her with a booklet containing dozens of tweets she had uploaded over the years and criticized her for posting criticism of the government's conduct and "racist "content. She was also warned not to publish the fact that she was being investigated or the results of the investigation.
Following the incident, Attorney Adi Kedar from the Honenu legal organization, representing Lash, contacted the head of the Civil Service, Daniel Hershkowitz, and demanded that the investigation against Lash be immediately closed.
Lash stated, "This is an ugly political persecution and a foolish attempt to shut me up due to my legitimate political views. I am a dedicated teacher, and I have never involved politics within the walls of the classroom. We live in an era where everyone opens their mouths and insults ministers and the prime minister, teachers, school administrators, nurses, and doctors. Tens of thousands of protesters, including civil servants, go out every week to illegally burn main roads, and the Civil Service Commission comes after me? Have they already investigated all the teachers in eastern Jerusalem, Kafr Qasim, and Lod, who speak against the State of Israel and in support of the massacre in their classrooms? What content do Hamas supporters upload to social media? I am a law-abiding citizen, who loves the country, my husband has been continuously serving in an elite unit since the massacre, we give our all for the sake of the people and the country, and I am being investigated for tweets against the security madness in Israel? I speak on behalf of hundreds and thousands of people here, there is a knife stuck in the back of all of us. I will not let them shut my mouth, freedom of expression is for everyone."
Adv. Kedar said, "The ink is not yet dry on the court's decision in the hearing for Ayelet and here she is receiving a surprising summons for another investigation that shows blatant and scandalous harassment on the part of the Commission. It seems that the Commission's investigators believe that the investigation laws do not apply to them. The discrimination against Ayelet is blatant and we will not cooperate with the hearing until the conduct of the investigator is examined and we will consider whether to appear against the investigation."