MK Zoabi drives herself into a traffic violation
While providing backup in the Wadi Ara area due to right-wing protests, police asked MK Hanin Zoabi, who was spotted talking on her phone while driving, to see her license, thus discovering that it was not valid; Zoabi’s spokesman claimed she was not talking on the phone and that her license was up for renewal.
MK Hanin Zoabi (Joint List) found herself in another pickle on Monday, while driving near the site of a right-wing protest in the Wadi Ara area, northwest of the Green Line. After being spotted speaking on the phone while driving, Zoabi was asked by a police team to pull over. When the police officers looked at her license, they discovered that she should not have been driving at all, since her license had been revoked. On Tuesday, Zoabi was already seen driven by her assistant to the DMV office.
Zoabi’s spokesman issued a statement on her behalf, saying, “MK Zoabi’s license was not revoked and is valid until May 2017. She is due to participate in a driving course, which is why her license is currently suspended.” He added, “She was not talking on the phone but was connecting it to its charger. The officer, however, did not accept this claim and gave her a ticket for speaking on the phone.”
Known more for her political kerfuffles than any vehicular wrongdoing, Zoabi has participated in a long line of political oppositional behavior, including taking part in the Marmara flotilla, insulting Arab police officers following the murder of Arab teen Mohammed Abu Khdeir, and, more recently, inciting a riot of MKs against her in the Knesset, for demanding that Israel apologize to the participants of the flotilla and saying "You murdered nine activists'" when discussing the altercation aboard the flotilla, following the reconcilliation agreement between Israel and Turkey. Zoabi was also suspended from her position as MK in February for visiting the families of terrorists.
