Former MK Yazbak Questioned for Incitement

Two former Arab members of Knesset made the news on Sunday and Monday for charges of incitement and corruption against them.

Former Joint List MK Heba Yazbak was questioned by police on Monday morning on suspicion of incitement and support of terrorist acts.

The suspicions are related to social media posts made by Yazbak praising terrorists. One contained a photo of terrorist Samir Kuntar, whom she referred to as a martyr; the other praised the terrorist Dalal Mughrabi.

The postings were made between 2013 and 2017, before she became an MK.

On Sunday, former Knesset member Hanin Zoabi of the Arab Balad party was reportedly expected to make a plea bargain that would allow her to receive a suspended sentence and pay a fine for charges of forgery, according to Channel 12 citing Balad sources.

Zoabi is accused of systematically deceiving the state comptroller by misrepresenting the source of millions of shekels her party had received in forged documents submitted between 2013 and 2016.

During her several years in the Knesset, Zoabi earned a reputation as an enemy of the state, who called for its dissolution, labeled Israeli soldiers “murderers,” and sailed on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara in 2010 which attempted to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza.

She left politics in January 2019.