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

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

Biography

Cassif was born in Rishon LeZion on 25 December 1964. He attended Shalmon Elementary School and the Reali Gymnasium, where he was friends with Nitzan Horowitz, the future leader of Meretz.[4] Growing up in a Mapai-supporting household, he 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.[4][5]

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 Wilner and participated in anti-war activism,[5] and earned a PhD in political philosophy at the London School of Economics with a thesis titled On nationalism and democracy: A Marxist examination,[6] before doing a postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University.[7]

As of 2019 Cassif lectures in political science at Tel Aviv University and Sapir Academic College.[5]

Political career

Entering the political sphere, as a student influenced by Marxism and socialism he worked as a parliamentary assistant to Hadash MK Meir Vilner.[5]

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.[8] 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 a "neo-Nazi" and other statements against right-wing politicians.[4][9] the first time an individual had been barred from a party list. The decision was later overturned by the Supreme Court.[10] He subsequently entered the Knesset as the alliance won six seats. He was re-elected in elections 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".[11][12] Cassif was investigated for striking the policeman first.[13]

Cassif proclaimed himself "an explicit anti-Zionist",[5] 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."[14]

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 October 2023 Gaza−Israel conflict, where innocent civilians on both sides pay the price. He called the Israeli government "fascist" and accused it of carrying out pogroms and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian population.[15] 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."[16]

On 7 January 2024, Cassif announced his intention to join South Africa in its legal proceedings against Israel brought under the Genocide Convention.[17] 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.[18]

In response to these comments, 85 Israeli members of parliament (out of 120) signed a petition to expel Cassif from the Knesset,[19] accusing him of treason.[20]

Personal life

Cassif is Jewish, married, with one son, and lives in Rehovot.[21]

References

  1. ↑ "MK: Expel lawmaker who supports genocide charges against Israel". Jewish News Syndicate. 8 January 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. ↑ "Israeli far-left lawmaker joins Gaza genocide lawsuit at ICJ". Jerusalem Post. 7 January 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 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]. וואלה! (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Hecht, Ravit. "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.
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ "Ofer Cassif". ofercassif.academia.edu. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  8. ↑ Itiel, Yoav (1 February 2019). "מועצת חד"ש בחרה: איימן עודה יעמוד בראש המפלגה בבחירות לכנסת". Walla (in Hebrew). Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  9. ↑ Winer, Stuart. "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.
  10. ↑ Burger, Yotam. "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.
  11. ↑ "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.
  12. ↑ "Video shows police beating Israeli politician in Jerusalem". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  13. ↑ "Ofer Cassif summoned for investigation after violent incident with cop". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 2 August 2022. Archived from the original on 21 November 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  14. ↑ "Ofer Cassif, A Very Important Person". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 21 November 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  15. ↑ 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.
  16. ↑ "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.
  17. ↑ "Israeli far-left lawmaker joins Gaza genocide lawsuit at ICJ". The Jerusalem Post JPost.com. 7 January 2024.
  18. ↑ Cassif, Ofer. "My constitutional duty is to Israeli society". twitter.com. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  19. ↑ "70 Israeli Lawmakers Sign Motion to Expel MK for Supporting ICJ Genocide Charges". Haaretz. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  20. ↑ "85 lawmakers sign petition to expel far-left MK who accused Israel of genocide".
  21. ↑ Oz, Sheri (31 October 2022). "Interview: The Jewish MK in the Arab party, Hadash, Ofer Cassif". www.israelnationalnews.com. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.