Democracy Prevails: Ayman Odeh Will Not Be Ousted!

15/07/25

Public pressure worked: we succeeded in preventing the outser of Member of Knesset Ayman Odeh — thanks to 11,000 Zazim members who joined our petition against his removal, came out to protest outside the Knesset, and thanks to the mobilization of many more.

We made sure to personally deliver our demand to Yair Lapid and other Members of Knesset, and together we proved that in times of silencing and incitement — our voice is more important than ever.

Back in January, MK Ayman Odeh tweeted that he was “happy about the release of the hostages and prisoners.” The post triggered a political storm, and within a day opposition leader Yair Lapid announced his support for expelling Odeh from the Knesset — an anti-democratic move that would severely undermine the chances of building a winning alternative to Netanyahu in the next elections.

Before the Knesset vote, Lapid insisted he would support the ouster. But our campaign and the broad protest made it clear that those he sees as potential voters — and the democratic camp as a whole — strongly opposed the move. When the decisive moment came, most members of Lapid’s Yesh Atid party refrained from voting in favor of removing Odeh, including Lapid himself.

Now it’s clear: the attempt to oust Odeh was part and parcel of the Netanyahu government’s judicial and democracy overhaul. Democracy in Israel has no future without Arab-Jewish partnership. We will continue to fight for this partnership and work to realize the vision of true democracy and equality.