Ofer Cassif

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Ofer Cassif
עופר כסיף‎
Cassif in 2021
Faction represented in the Knesset
2019Hadash
2019–2022Joint List
2022–Hadash
Personal details
Born (1964-12-25) 25 December 1964 (age 59)
Rishon LeZion, Israel

Ofer Cassif (Hebrew: עֹופֶר כַּסִיף, born 25 December 1964)[1] is a far-left[2][3][4][5][6] Israeli politician who has represented Hadash in the Knesset since April 2019.

Biography

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Cassif was born in Rishon LeZion on 25 December 1964.[1] He attended Shalmon Elementary School and the Reali Gymnasium, where he was friends with Nitzan Horowitz, the future leader of Meretz.[7] Growing up in a Mapai-supporting household, Cassif joined the Left Camp of Israel youth group at the age of 16. During his military service in the Israel Defense Forces, he served in the Nahal and the Nahal paratrooper brigade.[7][8] During the First Intifada, Cassif was sent to military prison four times as a conscientious objector, for what he described as "refusing to oppress the Palestinians, to take part in the oppression and occupation of the Palestinians."[9]

Following his military service in 1987, he studied philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem where he began his political career as a parliamentary aide to Meir Vilner and participated in anti-war activism.[8] He then earned a PhD in political philosophy at the London School of Economics with a thesis titled On nationalism and democracy: A Marxist examination,[10] followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University.[11]

As of 2019, Cassif lectures in political science at Tel Aviv University and Sapir Academic College.[8]

Political career

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Entering the political sphere as a student influenced by Marxism and socialism, he worked as a parliamentary assistant to Hadash MK Meir Vilner.[8]

For the April 2019 Knesset elections, he was placed fifth on the joint Hadash–Ta'al list, and filled the "Jewish slot" after the retirement of Dov Khenin.[12] In March 2019, he was banned from contesting the elections by the Central Election Committee, due to what it described as provocative statements he had made, such as calling Ayelet Shaked "neo-Nazi scum".[7][13] The decision was later overturned by the Supreme Court.[14] He subsequently entered the Knesset as the alliance won six seats. He was re-elected in September 2019, 2020, and 2021.

In April 2021, Cassif was filmed being assaulted by police officers at a protest against evictions and Israeli settlements in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem. Various otherwise opposing politicians spoke out about the incident, including leader of the Ta'al party, Ahmad Tibi, and right-wing Likud lawmaker Gideon Sa'ar, who described the attack as "a murderous blow to the parliament and to parliamentary immunity".[15][16] Cassif was investigated for striking the policeman first.[17]

Cassif proclaimed himself "an explicit anti-Zionist".[8] In an interview with Haaretz, Cassif said: "I object to the ideology and practice of Zionism... it's a racist ideology and practice which espouses Jewish supremacy."[18]

On 8 October 2023, Cassif told Al Jazeera that his party had repeatedly warned that continued Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories would lead to events like the Israel–Hamas war, in which innocent civilians on both sides would pay the price. He called the Israeli government "fascist", and accused it of carrying out pogroms and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian population.[19] He was later ordered suspended for these comments and others by the ethics panel of the Knesset for 45 days, a decision which Cassif characterised as "another nail in the coffin of freedom of political expression".[20]

On 7 January 2024, Cassif announced his intention to join South Africa in its legal proceedings against Israel brought under the Genocide Convention.[21] Cassif stated:

My constitutional duty is to Israeli society and all of its residents, not to a government whose members and its coalition are calling for ethnic cleansing and even actual genocide. They are the ones who hurt the country and the people, they are the ones who led South Africa to turn to The Hague, not me and my friends.[22]

Ofer Cassif in a demonstration in At-Tuwani, October 2021.

In response to these comments, 85 Israeli members of parliament (out of 120) signed a petition to expel Cassif from the Knesset,[23] accusing him of treason.[24] The measure came up for a vote on 19 February 2024, with Cassif narrowly avoiding expulsion.[25]

In November 2024, Cassif was suspended from the Knesset by a vote of its ethics committee, for a period of six months and fined two weeks of pay. The suspension bars an MK from addressing or debating in parliament, but allows them to cast votes. Cassif was suspended for describing Palestinians fighting against the IDF in the West Bank city of Jenin as “freedom fighter[s]" and for supporting South Africa's case before the International Court of Justice, in which it accuses Israel of genocide.[26]

Personal life

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Cassif is Jewish, and is married with one son. He lives in Rehovot.[27]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Members of the 25th Knesset". Knesset. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  2. ^ Lis, Jonathan (7 March 2019). "Israeli Arab Slate, Far-left Candidate Banned From Election Hours After Kahanist Leader Allowed to Run". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 25 October 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  3. ^ "MK: Expel lawmaker who supports genocide charges against Israel". Jewish News Syndicate. 8 January 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  4. ^ Sokol, Sam (8 January 2024). "MK starts process to expel far-left lawmaker who supports genocide charges against Israel". Times of Israel. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  5. ^ "Israeli far-left lawmaker joins Gaza genocide lawsuit at ICJ". Jerusalem Post. 7 January 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  6. ^ "Israeli politician signals support for South Africa ICJ case". Dawn. 8 January 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  7. ^ a b c Itiel, Yoav (7 March 2019). ""גאה להיות קיצוני": לוחם הנח"ל שמתנגד לציונות ונפסל מריצה לכנסת - וואלה! בחירות 2022" ["Proud to be an extremist": the Nahal fighter who opposes Zionism and was disqualified from running for the Knesset]. Walla (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  8. ^ a b c d e Hecht, Ravit (16 February 2019). "The Knesset Candidate Who Says Zionism Encourages anti-Semitism and Calls Netanyahu 'Arch-murderer'". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 1 September 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  9. ^ Ofer Cassif; Stephanie Van Hook; Lynn Gottlieb; Ela Gandhi; Michael N. Nagler; Mubarak Awad (1 April 2024), Against genocide: A conversation with Ofer Cassif, Metta Center for Nonviolence, Wikidata Q125559918
  10. ^ Cassif, Ofer (2006). On nationalism and democracy: A Marxist examination (PhD). London School of Economics and Political Science. Archived from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  11. ^ "Ofer Cassif". ofercassif.academia.edu. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  12. ^ Itiel, Yoav (1 February 2019). "מועצת חד"ש בחרה: איימן עודה יעמוד בראש המפלגה בבחירות לכנסת". Walla (in Hebrew). Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  13. ^ Winer, Stuart (7 March 2019). "Elections panel bars Arab slate, Jewish far-left candidate; court will now rule". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  14. ^ Burger, Yotam (17 March 2019). "Israel's Top Court Bans Kahanist Leader From Election Run, Okays Arab Slates, Far-left Candidate". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  15. ^ "Outcry as police beat Joint List lawmaker during East Jerusalem protest The Times of Israel". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  16. ^ "Video shows police beating Israeli politician in Jerusalem". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  17. ^ "Ofer Cassif summoned for investigation after violent incident with cop". JPost.com. 2 August 2022. Archived from the original on 21 November 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  18. ^ Levy, Gideon (18 April 2021). "Ofer Cassif, A Very Important Person". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 21 November 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  19. ^ Freedman, Eliyahu (7 October 2023). "Israeli lawmaker blames pogroms against Palestinians for "terrible" attacks". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  20. ^ "Israel police boss threatens to send anti-war protesters to Gaza "on buses"". Al Jazeera. 19 October 2023. Archived from the original on 9 November 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  21. ^ "Israeli far-left lawmaker joins Gaza genocide lawsuit at ICJ". JPost.com. 7 January 2024.
  22. ^ Cassif, Ofer. "My constitutional duty is to Israeli society". Twitter. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  23. ^ Shpigel, Noa (9 January 2024). "70 Israeli Lawmakers Sign Motion to Expel MK for Supporting ICJ Genocide Charges". Haaretz. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  24. ^ Silkoff, Shira; Sokol, Sam (10 January 2024). "85 lawmakers sign petition to expel far-left MK who accused Israel of genocide". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
  25. ^ Shpigel, Noa (19 February 2024). "Knesset Narrowly Votes Against Expelling Left-wing Lawmaker for His Support of ICJ Genocide Case Against Israel". Haaretz. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  26. ^ Sokol, Sam (11 November 2024). "Knesset suspends far-left MK Ofer Cassif for six months over comments on Gaza war". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  27. ^ Oz, Sheri (31 October 2022). "Interview: The Jewish MK in the Arab party, Hadash, Ofer Cassif". Israel National News. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
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