MK Oren Hazan removed for a week for offensively berating fellow MK
Ethics Committee determines MK Hazan harmed dignity of Knesset after MK Rozin complains Hazan clung to her and yelled she is 'small' and 'cowardly' as she was being interviewed.
The Knesset's Ethics Committee on Monday removed MK Oren Hazan (Likud) from the Knesset plenum and Knesset committees for a week after he verbally attacked MK Michal Rozin (Meretz) during a live broadcast at a Breaking the Silence conference in Kiryat Ono.
Rozin filed the complaint for "violent and threatening behavior," and told how Hazan "clung to me violently while shouting obscenities in my ears." She said that, among other things, he called her "cowardly," a "brat" and more.
The committee determined that watching the broadcast on Channel 20 shows that Hazan "stood next to MK Rozin in order to ruin the interview with her, to destroy her calm and concentration, and to not allow her to say anything, and not to confront her with a legitimate confrontation over her positions as he claimed."
According to the committee, Hazan violated the rule of ethics that states that "a Knesset member will preserve the dignity of the Knesset and the dignity of its members." It noted that "this is not the first or even the second time that the Ethics Committee has deliberated complaints about MK Hazan's conduct toward his colleagues, and in some cases he has even been reprimanded."
The committee said that "the freedom of expression of Knesset members is not intended to trample the freedom of speech of their colleagues, while hurling expletives of the kind voiced by MK Hazan."
Hazan said in response: "I am sorry that the Knesset has become a tool of the extreme left Breaking the Silence.
"To keep me away because I came out against this treacherous organization, Breaking the Silence—or more accurately 'Breaking the IDF'—and its representatives is a great achievement for those who hate Israel and for the terrorists.
"Personally, I am proud to have cried out the soldiers' cry and kept the dignity of IDF soldiers and the State of Israel.
"I call on the prime minister to put an end to the deviation to the left.
"When MK Haneen Zoabi (Joint List—ed) and Breaking the Silence receive medals and right-wing Knesset members are removed because of their protection of the security interests of the State of Israel, the line has been crossed and the time has come to put an end to it," said Hazan.
(Translated & edited by Lior Mor)
