High Court rejects Democrats’ bid to bar Otzma Yehudit from election
The High Court also rejected the Democrats' request to disqualify Ben-Gvir and Tally Gotliv.
On Sunday, the High Court of Justice denied the Democrats' attempt to remove the Otzma Yehudit party from the upcoming election ballot. The court ruled that the Election Law does not grant the party the right to appeal the Central Elections Committee's decision. Furthermore, the judges determined that exceptional circumstances did not warrant an exception.
The justices also rejected the Democrats' alternative request to disqualify National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and MK Tally Gotliv, as the original request did not meet the legal requirement for signatures from committee members. The ruling maintains Otzma Yehudit and both candidates in the race, though it does not settle the Democrats' allegations about the party's undermining of Israel's democratic character and incitement of racism.
The court dismissed the case without examining the merits of these claims. Justice Ofer Grosskopf authored the decision, backed by Justices Dafna Barak-Erez and Khaled Kabub. The dispute started with two decisions by the Central Elections Committee on September 24 and September 14, where the committee voted against disqualifying the entire Otzma Yehudit slate and specific individuals, respectively.
The Democrats argued that Otzma Yehudit incited racism and negated Israel's democratic character, while the attorney-general found the evidence to be troubling but not enough to remove the party from the election. The Democrats also sought to disqualify Ben-Gvir and Gotliv individually, but their requests were dismissed due to insufficient signatures.
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