Joint List MK Refuses Ethics Committee Appointment

The Knesset Ethics Committee continued to have trouble filling its seats, after Joint List MK Osama Saadi said that he would not serve, The Times of Israel reported on Monday.

The prior refusal of opposition members Likud MK Gila Gamliel and Shas MK Yaakov Margi to sit on the panel has prevented it from convening. Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy had hoped that Saadi would fill in for one of them.

But in a letter to Levy, Saadi said that the speaker had previously asked him to be a full member of the panel, to which he had agreed.

“I was surprised to receive an email that you are appointing me as an alternate member of the Knesset Ethics Committee,” he wrote. “I am not ready to be a tool in political games between the coalition and opposition.”

There was no comment yet from Levy on Saadi’s missive.

Levy is considering legislation to allow the committee to operate without representatives from the opposition parties, according to a Channel 13.

Likud MKs are reportedly boycotting the committee because they fear that the coalition, which wields a majority on the panel, would single out the Likud for ethical sanctions.