Ethics Committee reprimands MK Eldad for saying PM has 'blood on hands'

By JPOST.COM STAFF
The Knesset Ethics Committee reprimanded MK Arye Eldad on Tuesday for saying Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had "blood on his hands." Speaking at a Knesset session in January on the issue of relaxing the criteria for prisoner release, Eldad said: "Since we are already discussing this important question, I suggest another criteria for the term 'blood on his hands' - someone who knowingly strengthened a murderous terrorist organization...Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has blood on his hands." In its decision the ethics committee wrote: "At a time when the public discourse is heating up and there is a tendency to make more extreme statements, it is especially important that MKs refrain from crossing the appropriate lines of parliamentary discourse. There is a line between legitimate freedom of speech and irresponsible talk."