Knesset member suspended over crude poem

JTA

JERUSALEM — The Knesset Ethics Committee suspended Israeli-Arab lawmaker Ahmed Tibi after he attacked a fellow lawmaker with an insulting poem.

On Tuesday, the committee suspended Tibi for a week for reciting an original poem using dirty and hurtful language in an attack on Anastasia Michaeli, a lawmaker from the Yisrael Beiteinu Party, after she flung a glass of water on Israeli-Arab lawmaker Raleb Majadele.

Michaeli was suspended from the Knesset for a month for her actions. 

Tibi can still participate in Knesset voting during his suspension.

“The Ethics Committee has no Arab members and some of the members treat me like an enemy, which is why its decisions are infected with prejudice,” Tibi said in response to his suspension.