Knesset Set to Vote on Immunity for Likud MK Tally Gotliv

The Knesset plenum is expected to vote today on whether to grant criminal immunity to Likud MK Tally Gotliv, who has been charged with exposing the identity of an Shin Bet officer. The officer is the partner of protest leader Shikma Bressler. The vote follows a Knesset Committee decision on Monday to approve Gotliv’s request after three long days of hearings.

The committee backed the immunity bid by 11 votes to 3. Those supporting it included coalition whip Ofir Katz and MKs Nissim Vaturi, Amit Halevi, Moshe Saada, Avichay Buaron, Simcha Rothman, Uriel Buso, Yosef Tzayt, Yitzhak Goldknopf, Michel Buskila and Limor Son Har-Melech. Opposing it were opposition MKs Oded Forer, Naor Shiri and Merav Ben Ari.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara told the committee that the case was opened after a Shin Bet request, because revealing the details of a fighter whose identity is barred from publication created a security risk during wartime. She said granting immunity would seriously harm equality before the law and the public interest, and rejected claims of selective enforcement.

Minister Ze’ev Elkin said on Wednesday that he will support immunity for Gotliv. In an interview on Galei Zahal, he said, “Part of the role of MKs is to expose the truth that is hidden from the public, afterward one can debate what the truth is.” He added that her conduct did not go beyond what is accepted in the Knesset and that “spreading theories is not a crime.”