Israeli forces blocked Knesset member Ofer Cassif on Tuesday from entering the village of Beit Anan in Area A of the ‘Palestinian’ Authority. Cassif continued on foot into the village and later claimed in a post on X: “The army is lying: the village and all its lands are in Areas B and C.” He also claimed he would “not agree to harm his parliamentary work in violation of the law.”
According to Cassif, the purpose of his visit was “a tour and solidarity visit to the Palestinian village of Beit Anan, which has recently suffered from violence and land theft by terrorist settler outposts operating illegally on its agricultural lands, under the protection of occupation forces.”
Cassif accused Israeli forces of acting in violation of the law granting him parliamentary immunity, while lashing out at the State of Israel. “This is exactly what the occupation regime and ethnic cleansing look like. They will not deter me and will not prevent my struggle to liberate the Palestinian and even Israeli people from the occupation and its crimes,” he wrote.
Contrary to Cassif’s claims about his parliamentary immunity, under the law applicable in the area and High Court rulings, freedom of movement for Knesset members is not absolute. The authority of the Central Command commander to restrict entry to a closed military zone or to Area A for security considerations is valid even against elected officials and does not yield to parliamentary immunity.