Knesset Grants MK Tally Gotliv Parliamentary Immunity

The Knesset plenum today (Wednesday) approved granting immunity to MK Tally Gotliv. The decision was passed in two separate votes held in the plenum, with the proposal receiving the support of most coalition lawmakers over the opposition’s objections.

According to the voting results, one of the grounds for immunity was approved by a majority of 61 Knesset members to 18 opponents, while the second ground was approved by a majority of 62 supporters to 18 opponents.

Following the decision, Gotliv will be immune from criminal proceedings in the case involving the exposure of the identity of a Shin Bet agent, the partner of anti-government protest activist Shikma Bressler.

During the plenum debate, coalition chair and House Committee chair MK Ofir Katz presented the committee’s decision approving the immunity request. In his remarks, Katz attacked opposition lawmakers and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara: "The opposition members in the discussion were sucking up to their chairwoman Miara. Like an army of spineless people, they screamed and shouted at anyone who asked her a question about her selective enforcement."

Even before the vote, Minister Ze’ev Elkin expressed support for granting Gotliv immunity. In an interview with Efi Triger on the program "Boker Tov Israel" on Army Radio, Elkin said that "part of lawmakers’ role is to expose the truth being hidden from the public; afterward, you can argue about what that truth is. Her actions did not go beyond what is accepted in the Knesset. Spreading theories is not a crime."

On the other hand, a different voice was also heard within Likud. Former Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chair MK Yuli Edelstein announced even before the vote that he would support removing Gotliv’s immunity, even though she is a member of his party. In a video he published, he said: "If Arab members of Knesset had exposed the names of Mossad agents and Shin Bet personnel, would we also have remained silent?"

The plenum vote came after the House Committee approved Gotliv’s immunity request the day before yesterday, at the end of three days of lengthy discussions. The committee’s decision was passed by a majority of 11 Knesset members to three opponents.

Among those who supported granting immunity in the committee were coalition chair Ofir Katz and MKs Nissim Vaturi, Amit Halevi, Moshe Saada, Avichai Boaron, Simcha Rothman, Uriel Buso, Yosef Taieb, Yitzhak Goldknopf, Michel Buskila, and Limor Son Har-Melech. Voting against were opposition MKs Oded Forer, Naor Shiri, and Merav Ben Ari.