Knesset MP Ofer Cassif on the Need for Palestinian Liberation
Ofer Cassif, among the few Israeli MPs to openly reject Zionism, tells Jacobin that Palestinian liberation is indispensable to peace and justice for all people in the region.
Knesset member Ofer Cassif argues that any responsible Israeli policy must begin with Palestinian self-determination. (Ahmad Gharabli / AFP via Getty Images)
- Interview by
- Dora Mengüç
Ofer Cassif stands almost alone inside the Israeli Knesset.
The only openly anti-Zionist member of parliament, he has been suspended multiple times for his dissent — including a six-month ban earlier this year for supporting South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at The Hague. Cassif, a philosophy lecturer turned lawmaker, has become a rare moral voice in a political landscape dominated by militarism and fear.
During Donald Trump’s address to the Knesset following the Gaza ceasefire talks, Cassif held up a banner reading “Recognize Palestine.” Within seconds, security guards escorted him out of the chamber. To many, it was a symbolic act of conscience — a defiant gesture amid the thunder of applause for Trump and Netanyahu.
In this interview with Jacobin, conducted shortly after the protest, Cassif speaks with unusual candor about the “cult of power” that unites Trump and Netanyahu, the manipulation of trauma after October 7, and what he calls “the hegemony of genocide discourse” inside Israeli society. We spoke with him to discuss not only the political but also the moral collapse of Israel’s leadership — and Cassif’s belief that liberation for Palestinians and Israelis is inseparable.
During Donald Trump’s address at the Knesset, you held up a banner reading “Recognize Palestine” and were removed from the hall. Was this act a personal, moral gesture, or a deliberate rebellion against the silence dominating Israeli politics?
First of all, the banner that my friend Ayman Odeh and I held was calling for the recognition of Palestine. There was nothing else — no “genocide,” nothing. We didn’t talk, we didn’t scream, we didn’t interrupt, we didn’t hold any other slogan, just “Recognize Palestine.”
It was a protest against not only the silence of the US administration — both Joe Biden’s and Trump’s — but against its active involvement in the continuation of the genocide and the sacrifice of Israeli hostages. Trump is not a savior. He directly supported the continuation of the genocide and the sacrifice of hostages.
You mean Trump’s actions have prolonged the war?
Exactly. He backed Israel when Netanyahu knowingly violated the ceasefire agreement.
He vetoed the UN Security Council’s decision calling for a ceasefire. So, to refer to Trump as a man of peace is not only absurd but twisted. He is directly responsible for the continuation of the massacre, of the genocide, and of the sacrifice of Israeli soldiers and hostages.
Trump reportedly asked Israeli President Isaac Herzog to pardon Netanyahu during that same visit. What does that tell us about the political nature of Trump’s so-called peace tour?
What we saw in the Knesset that day was a disgusting display of flattery and personality cult by two megalomaniacs hungry for power and blood — Trump and Netanyahu.
Trump asking Herzog to pardon Netanyahu was rude, an illegitimate act of interference.
It was a kind of imperial patronage that fits perfectly with the mindset of North American hegemony.
And unfortunately, the majority of the Knesset clapped and cheered.
You’ve been suspended several times from the Knesset for your criticism of government policy. Some argue that silencing politicians can still be compatible with democracy. How do you respond?
This is not a defense of democracy — it’s a war waged against democracy. In the last two years, I’ve been suspended for almost one year altogether, mainly for things I said against the genocide. The very use of the term “genocide” led the Ethics Committee — which has turned into a censorship committee — to suspend me. The fact that members of a parliament can impeach another member is itself antidemocratic.
It’s the tyranny of the majority, a mechanism to oppress dissenting voices.
You’ve described Israeli society as suffering from a “hegemony of genocide discourse.” What do you mean by that?
As far as the legal concept is concerned, most experts around the world — including Jewish scholars of genocide and Holocaust studies — have already said that what’s happening in Gaza constitutes genocide.
But it goes beyond the legal definition. Sociologically speaking, more than 70 percent of the Israeli public supported one or another form of genocidal policy in Gaza. So yes, Israeli society has suffered from the hegemony of a genocide discourse.
I’m not saying that all Israelis are genocidal, absolutely not — but the public space has been dominated by such thinking.
Would you describe the alliance between Trump and Netanyahu as mere political coordination or as something deeper — a shared ideology or rapport?
Netanyahu’s authoritarianism is inseparable from his megalomania and psychopathy. He behaves as a psychopath who doesn’t care about anyone. You can see it in the death toll in Gaza and in how he’s sacrificed Israeli soldiers for his own survival. The cult of personality around him — and Trump — is something they both encourage and enjoy.
It’s part of their vision. They truly believe that their personal interest equals the interest of their nation, which is insane.
After October 7, Israeli society went through a deep trauma. You’ve said the government weaponized that trauma.
Yes. The massacre committed by Hamas was horrific — we all condemned it. But the government used fear, pain, and rage to manipulate people and justify a genocidal war.
The attack on Gaza had nothing to do with the well-being of Israelis, not even revenge. It was about realizing a preexisting plan — the annexation of occupied Palestinian territories without granting basic rights, and the expulsion of Palestinians who resist.
How do you, as an Israeli politician, envision the future of Gaza and Hamas?
The only solution is the two-state solution. Gaza should be liberated, the West Bank including East Jerusalem must be liberated. The Palestinian people must be liberated — which, in my view, is also the liberation of the Israeli people. Because, of course, Palestinians are the main victims of occupation and apartheid — but we Israelis are also hostages of the fanaticism that sustains this system. The liberation of the Palestinian people is also the liberation of the Israeli people. That is the only realistic and just solution for both nations.