Politicians from Israel’s right-wing coalition failed on Monday to gain enough votes in parliament to expel a left-wing colleague because of his support for an International Court of Justice (ICJ) case accusing the country of genocide in Gaza. A total of 85 of the 120 members of the Knesset backed the motion to remove Ofer Cassif in a plenum session, five votes short of the 90-seat supermajority required. Mr Cassif, whose communist Hadash party sits in the opposition as part of a joint list with the left-wing Arab Ta’al party, signed an open letter supporting the allegations against Israel, although he dismissed claims that he supported Hamas.
