Great Moments in Knesset Ejections, From Arabs Heckling Pence to the Ultra-Orthodox Protesting Mormons
On Monday, Vice President Mike Pence addressed the Israeli Knesset. In typical Israeli fashion, he was met with protests. As he began, Arab members of the Joint List party whipped out signs declaring “Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine” and proceeded to heckle the American speaker. Having broken the Knesset’s rules of order, they were quickly ushered out. Some foreign journalists, unfamiliar with both Israel’s rambunctious politics and parliamentary procedure, breathlessly reported the incident as a singular and shocking event. But in fact, getting one’s self kicked out of Knesset to make a political point is a time-honored tradition in Israel.
Like many parliamentary democracies, from Britain to Canada, the Knesset forbids any props, signs, or disruptions when it is in session. As the Rules of Order for the Canadian House of Commons state: