Israel suspends 3 Arab lawmakers over meeting Palestinian attackers' families

The Israeli parliament suspended Monday three Arab lawmakers over a meeting with families of alleged Palestinian attackers.

The three lawmakers visited last week relatives of Palestinians who were killed while attacking Israelis, sparking angry responses in the parliament. The meeting was aimed at promoting the return of their relatives' bodies for burial, said the lawmakers.

Israel does not always immediately return bodies of attackers and some of the bodies have been held for at least three months.

The parliament's Ethics Committee decided to ban Haneen Zoabi and Basel Ghattas, both are members with the Arab-Israeli Joint List faction, for four months. Another lawmaker, Jamal Zahalka, was suspended for two months.

They were barred from parliamentary activities, but will still be able take part in votes, a spokesperson from the parliament said in a statement.

The move was backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who urged the parliament "not to allow a situation in which lawmakers support families of murderers of Israeli citizens."

The Joint List released a statement slamming the decision as "anti-democratic and unethical."

The faction said it will continue to demand the release of bodies of Palestinian attackers.

"The vindictive punishment will not keep us from continuing to struggle against the racist and fascist policies, and for true equality and true democracy, which Netanyahu tries with all his might to destroy," the statement read.

Since a wave of violence broke out in the West Bank and Israel in mid-September, at least 165 Palestinians, 26 Israelis and one U.S. citizen have been killed.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, Israel has been holding 10 bodies of Palestinian from East Jerusalem.

The move has enraged Palestinians and prompted condemnations from human rights groups who denounce the move as a "collective punishment." Endit