The Knesset voted Wednesday to grant Likud MK Tally Gotliv immunity from criminal prosecution for exposing the identity of a Shin Bet officer, shielding her from an indictment over social media posts in which she identified the partner of anti-government protest leader Shikma Bressler as a security agent while promoting baseless conspiracy theories about the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.

The plenum voted 61-48 to grant immunity on the grounds that Gotliv’s actions were carried out in the course of, or for the purpose of, fulfilling her duties as a member of Knesset, and 62-48 because the indictment was filed in bad faith or in a discriminatory manner.

The Attorney General’s Office announced last month that it was indicting Gotliv over media posts from 2024 identifying the agent, while insinuating that he bore responsibility for October 7.

According to the indictment, despite warnings by the Shin Bet that her posts constituted potential security risks, Gotliv “consciously and intentionally” did not remove the posts and stood by their publication, continuing to share posts about Bressler’s partner and stating that she would keep doing so.

Gotliv has never disputed the underlying facts and repeatedly argued during House Committee hearings that her actions were justified.

Her immunity will expire at the conclusion of the current Knesset’s term in the coming months.

The vote followed three combative Knesset House Committee hearings that culminated in an 11-3 recommendation to grant immunity, which opposition lawmakers denounced as amounting to little more than a rubber stamp for a decision that coalition members had already made.

Addressing the plenum ahead of the vote, Gotliv continued to claim the case against her was intended to “whitewash the senior leadership of the Shin Bet and blacken the government’s name” over October 7. Insisting that she was protected by parliamentary privilege, she declared that her actions “were done as part of my role, for the sake of my role and for the sake of the people.”

Coalition lawmakers hailed the decision, including Gotliv’s close ally Otzma Yehudit MK........

© The Times of Israel