After three days of heated discussions, the Knesset House Committee on Monday approved MK Tali Gotliv’s request for parliamentary immunity from criminal prosecution.

The decision is not final as it still needs to be brought before the full Knesset for approval. Eleven members of the committee voted in favor of the request, and three members, all from the opposition, voted against it.

Gotliv had revealed that the partner of Shikma Bressler, one of the most strident anti-government protesters before the October 7 massacre, is a member of the Shin Bet. She argued that the fact that the husband of a radical activist who publicly called to harm the IDF in order to bring down the government should be known to the Israeli public, and she acted out of national responsibility and within the scope of her duties. Gotliv added that the fact that Bressler’s husband is a Shin Bet officer was already known and had been published “in every possible forum.”

The committee determined that two grounds for immunity apply in Gotliv’s case under the Knesset Members’ Immunity Law: that the act attributed to her was carried out in the course of fulfilling her duties as a member of Knesset, and that the indictment was filed, in the view of the committee majority, in bad faith or in a discriminatory manner.

During the hearings, Gotliv said that the indictment was not only filed in bad faith but is also an attempt to intimidate elected officials.

“The immunity of Knesset members is sacred,” she said. “The attempt to intimidate those who are doing their job will not help you. I exposed Shikma Bressler’s partner intentionally. It was clear to me as day that there was subversion and rebellion here that the Shin Bet did not investigate.”

MK Simcha Rothman said Gotliv’s actions were serious and that he had advised her at the time to remove her post, but argued that the proceedings against her were tainted by selective enforcement, a sentiment echoed by MK Limor Son Har-Melech.

“There is a reason this is MK Gotliv,” she said. “She explains the distortions of the system to the public in simple terms. Tali is a criminal lawyer who knows the intricacies of the law, and that is why she threatens them. This is not an isolated incident but a political move by unelected officials who want to silence the national camp.”

Attorney Itzik Buntzel, who represented Gotliv, argued that the law enforcement system is working to suppress criticism of the Shin Bet, adding that parliamentary immunity is intended to protect lawmakers who expose information that the public has an interest in knowing.

Before the vote, Gottlieb concluded her remarks by saying, “They accuse me of sharing information that had already been shared thousands of times, and no one else was investigated.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)