|
|
NEWS
MK Lapid Reprimanded by Knesset Ethics Committee Following
a Complaint by MK Gafni
by Eliezer Rauchberger
The Knesset Ethics Committee decided to register an official
complaint against MK Yosef (Tomy) Lapid, the chairman of
Shinui, following a complaint lodged against him to the
Committee by MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni concerning an article by
Lapid published in Ma'ariv about one-and-a- half years
ago, in which he wrote that the internal threat from the
chareidim was much more serious than the threat Israel faced
from its external enemies. The article contained severe
statements besmirching the chareidi population.
MK Gafni claimed in his complaint that the aim of Lapid's
article had been to cause strife, to incite and to slander,
and he therefore demanded that the Committee should meet to
adopt the strictest possible measures allowed for by the
regulations against Lapid.
The Ethics Committee discussed Gafni's complaint during
several meetings, Lapid claiming each time that it was a just
an annoyance complaint. Rabbi Gafni, for his part, presented
the Committee with a letter written by Adv. Talia Sasson of
the State Attorney's Office, in which she writes, "Lapid's
statements against the chareidi population are strident, and
one can identify with the offense you felt on behalf of the
community you represent."
At the end of its meeting the Ethics Committee reached the
conclusion that Lapid had infringed the second Rule of the
Ethical Code of Members of the Knesset which states: "A
Member of the Knesset shall behave in a manner befitting his
status and shall refrain from making improper use of his
parliamentary immunity." Based on the State Attorney's
Office's letter that his statements were offensive it was
decided that Lapid had made an improper use of his immunity
and a complaint was registered against him.
|
